First flight of the CMV-22B Osprey which will replace the C-2A Greyhound logistics aircraft on US Navy aircraft carriers

While the aircraft is already in service with the Marine Corps and the US Air Force, Bell Boeing announced on January 21 that the CMV-22B Osprey intended for the US Navy would have made its first flight at the Bell assembly center in Amarillo, Texas.

Few details have been revealed about this first flight, but it seems that it actually took place a month earlier, spotters having detected it December 19, 2019. Before being fully operational by 2022, the CMV-22B Osprey will gradually replace the C-2A Greyhound of the US Navy in their role as Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD).

In American carrier battle groups, the COD designates the aircraft responsible for logistical missions between the aircraft carrier and land. It is thus used, among other things, for the rapid and long-distance transport of passengers, medical evacuations, deliveries of equipment, mail or medical equipment.

Subsequently, the cargo can be dispatched to other ships in the carrier strike group by helicopter, if necessary. Everywhere else in the world, notably in France, COD missions are carried out directly by helicopters operating between the coast and the fleet, which can force the aircraft carrier to operate closer to the coast while extending transport times.

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