Marine Corps Col. Matt Mulhern, head of the V-22 Osprey program at NAS Patuxent River, Md., told reporters in Washington Wednesday that he expects DOD and Marine Corps leadership to sign off on an overseas deployment for the MV-22 as soon as this fall. However, he said the decision to go ahead remains the call of Commandant Gen. James Conway, who last month sang the aircraft’s praises but was not ready to commit publicly to a date.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.