By Ray Jaworowski, Senior Aerospace Analyst, Forecast International.
Bell and Boeing have been awarded a U.S. Navy contract, worth $332 million, to supply five MV-22s to Japan through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales program. The deal marks the first-ever export sale of the tiltrotor aircraft.
The five MV-22s are intended to be the first batch of a larger Japanese procurement of the tiltrotor aircraft. Japan’s New Medium Term Defense Program, which covers the five-year period FY14 through FY18, calls for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force to acquire a total of 17 MV-22s.
A number of other countries are displaying interest in the V-22, including Brazil, Israel, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
Meanwhile, Bell and Boeing are continuing to build MV-22s and CV-22s for the U.S. armed forces. The U.S. Marine Corps is acquiring a total of 360 MV-22s, of which some 260 have already been delivered. In USMC service, the MV-22 has replaced the CH-46 helicopter in the airborne amphibious assault role.
The U.S. Air Force is acquiring 52 CV-22s for long-range Special Operations Forces missions; all but about a half-dozen have been delivered to the service.
The U.S. Navy plans to procure 48 MV-22s; deliveries of these aircraft have not yet begun. The 48 MV-22s are intended to replace aging Grumman C-2 Greyhounds in the carrier onboard delivery role.
For the full outlook on the V-22 and other rotorcraft programs, see Forecast International’s Rotorcraft forecast.
