Defense Dept. Is Expected to OK Osprey Production for Marines
The Marine Corps’ top officer said Thursday he expects the Defense Department to give the go-ahead soon for starting full-scale production of the MV-22 Osprey, a hybrid helicopter-airplane.
The Marines are counting on the new aircraft to replace their Vietnam War-era fleet of transport helicopters.
“I’m confident it should be approved, and I’ve seen nothing to lead me to believe that it won’t,” said Gen. James L. Jones, commandant of the Marine Corps, in an interview with Associated Press.
The Osprey takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies like an airplane. It is being produced by Boeing Co. and Bell Helicopter Textron, and the Marines plan to buy 360 of them for $36 billion.
The decision on whether to start full-scale production, due next week, was to have been made earlier this fall. The decision was delayed as a result of an interruption in Osprey test and evaluation flights following the crash of an Osprey in Arizona last April, an accident in which all 19 Marines aboard were killed.
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