Next month, the Marine Corps may reveal its plans for sending the V-22 Osprey on its first overseas deployment, reports Megan Scully of CongressDaily. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway told defense reporters last week that it’s his “fervent desire” to get the Osprey into the war on terror. Conway calls it a “marvelous” aircraft that will “prove itself rapidly.” The Marine Corps director of aviation plans, Col. Glenn Walters, told Scully that the V-22 “is more survivable than anything we’ve got over there now.”
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.