The National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, added the oldest CV-22 Osprey to its collection last week. The tiltrotor, serial No. 99-0021, was originally built as a Navy preproduction aircraft, but the Air Force modified it in 2005 to a CV-22B additional test asset, states a Dec. 12 museum release. “This new addition to our collection will give us the opportunity to tell two stories,” said Jack Hudson, museum director. “One is the use of the CV-22 by the Air Force Special Operations Command aircrews. This airframe is also the culmination of decades of research and development, tying in with an early attempt at a tiltrotor aircraft—the Bell Helicopter Textron XV-3 displayed in our research and development gallery.” The aircraft flew more than 200 developmental test missions at Edwards AFB, Calif., before it was transferred in 2007 to the 413th Flight Test Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. There it completed an additional 400 test missions, states the release. The Osprey will remain in storage until the completion of the museum’s fourth building, which is scheduled for 2015.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.