Jane Edwards
John Parker, manager of tiltrotor business development at Boeing, has said the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force might consider upgrading their fleet of Bell Boeing-built V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft with new weapons such as lasers and sonic waves, DoD Buzz reported Thursday.
Oriana Pawlyk writes Parker told reporters Tuesday that officials have evaluated AGM-176 Griffin missile, precision-guided rockets and other weapons mounted on V-22's fuselage “to demonstrate that the V-22 can fire both in the forward fight“¦ and also 60 degrees“ as both service branches work to equip the aircraft with new reinforcements.
He said at the company's media event that the V-22 program is on target to build and deliver 48 CMV-22 planes to the U.S. Navy by early 2020s in an effort to replace the C-2A Greyhound aircraft for use in carrier onboard delivery missions under a potential $151 million contract awarded in 2016.
Boeing plans to build the V-22 fuselage at its factory in Philadelphia, while Textron's Bell Helicopter subsidiary plans to produce the aircraft's wings at its plant in Amarillo, Texas, he noted.
