The team of Boeing-Bell said Monday it had delivered the Air Force’s first production CV-22 Osprey. Air Force Special Operations Command will use the CV-22 for long-range special operations, contingency operations, and evacuations, as well as search and rescue operations. The current program calls for AFSOC to field 50 CV-22s. The Osprey will finish developmental testing and follow-on testing at Edwards AFB, Calif. AFSOC expects to achieve initial operational capability in 2009.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.