US Naval Air Forces completes FBE for MV-22B Osprey aboard USS Carl Vinson

The US Naval Air Forces has successfully completed a Fleet Battle Experiment (FBE) for the future Navy variant CMV-22B Osprey aircraft aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70).

The CMV-22B Osprey is set to be the replacement for the US navy's C-2A Greyhound as the singular logistics platform on an aircraft carrier for future carrier on-board delivery (COD) operations.

The FBE was carried out to explore, analyse and record the aspects involved in operating an MV-22 detachment for the carrier strike group.

The experiment witnessed the MV-22B Ospreys transporting 34,590lb of cargo and 563 passengers to and from the ship.

The aircraft have also been able to serve as an on-board delivery platform offering logistic support to the carrier at night.

USS Carl Vinson commander Lucas Kadar said: "Overall, it was a successful evaluation.

"The Ospreys were able to integrate into the carrier environment seamlessly.

“It gives us a lot of options, a lot of flexibility, in the sense that we can recover it more as a helicopter or sometimes we can treat it more like a fixed wing aircraft."

The Boeing-built MV-22 Osprey serves as the primary assault support aircraft for the US Marine Corps and will feature the flexibility, mobility, responsiveness, and independence of the C-2A Greyhound detachments.

It is based on the tiltrotor technology to offer the combined performance of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft.

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Image: A MV-22B Osprey landing on USS Carl Vinson. Photo: courtesy of US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew Brown/Released.