Air Force Special Operations Command will up-armor its CV-22 Osprey fleets through a sole source contract to Florida-based The Protective Group, according to a notice posted this week. The Advanced Ballistic Stopping System is a panel system to be applied to the Ospreys in multiple configurations “based upon mission need/requirements,” the notice states. The armor will protect both the aircrew and “critical components” of the aircraft. The Protective Group has already provided 16 kits to AFSOC. The amount of the order, and the total price, has not been announced.
The Pentagon is significantly bolstering airpower near Venezuela, dispatching the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to Latin America, it said in an Oct. 24 statement. The announcement came just hours after U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers and other U.S. assets flew near the Venezuelan coast on Oct. 23.
