USAF’s CV-22 Osprey is still in development testing at Edwards AFB, Calif., but officials say they have already begun training with Air Force Special Operations Command personnel. “We’re taking the airplanes, learning how to fly them, and learning how we are going to employ the aircraft … in future conflicts,” said Maj. Steven Breeze, director of operations for Det. 1, 18th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards. The special ops crews already have found that the Osprey takes less than half the preparation and preflight times of other airframes.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.