Le Bourget, France International sales of the Bell-Boeing V-22 tiltrotor aircraft could approach 100 units, said Marine Corps Col. Gregory Masiello, joint V-22 program manager, during a briefing here on Monday on the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show. Already, the United States is discussing the sale of the V-22 to Israel, and there are “multiple” other nations with which US officials are talking, he told reporters. In addition to the V-22’s multi-mission appeal, the aircraft’s record of survivability and safety “is resonating” with international partners, he said. Plus, there is the V-22’s suitability to shuttling VIPs, a role, which “many folks are asking about,” he said. Already a V-22 has landed on a British warship and, just last week, on two different classes of Japanese warships, said Masiello. “I think there is interest in the V-22 for Japan in the future,” he noted. The United States and France have also cleared the V-22 to land on French warships, but this has not happened yet, he said. His briefing charts listed these nations as having expressed varying degrees of interest in the V-22: Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Colombia, France, India, Israel, Italy, Libya, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.