The U.S. Navy on Monday announced it held a ceremony to establish of its first squadron of CMV-22B tilt-rotor cargo aircraft, starting the transition from the C-2A Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft. The Titans of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30 was officially established at a Dec. 14 ceremony at Naval Base Coronado. It is part of the Navy’s transition away from the venerable C-2A Greyhound naval transportation planes designed for resupply of aircraft carriers. The Navy says that compared to the C-2A Greyhound, the CMV-22B has an increased range, more cargo capacity, enhanced beyond-line-of-sight communications, and offers quicker cargo loading and unloading, according to the Navy.
“Where no instructions existed, no patch existed, no ‘here’s how we are going to perform our duties everyday’ existed, this team will define that,” Vice Adm. DeWolfe H. Miller III, commander of naval air forces, said in a statement. “And it’s exciting because we can establish right off the bat those best practices.” “This platform is our future and when you look at the nature of the future fight, we need that versatility, that flexibility that’s going to be provided in every subsequent squadron that transitions.”
In October, U.S. Navy officials announced they had sped up the transition to CMV-22B as the fleet’s COD. The first three CMV-22B aircraft are now expected to deploy in 2021, according to the Navy. The retirement of the U.S. Navy’s last C-2A Greyhounds is now scheduled to occur in 2024, about three years earlier than the previously announced 2027 retirement. The VRM-30 squadron will be training with Marine Corps pilot’s experienced with the V-22 airframe in the meantime. The CMV-22B will be used by the US Navy for transportation of special warfare teams, mail and cargo from shore to its aircraft carriers, as well as for shore or sea-based combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) missions.
The CMV-22B Osprey long-range tiltrotor aircraft is the US Navy’s future variant of MV-22B Osprey assault support aircraft developed by Bell Boeing for the US Marine Corps. The V-22 Osprey is the primary assault support aircraft of the U.S. Marine Corps. It has a unique design that uses twin rotor engines for vertical take-off and landing that can be tilted forward for conventional turboprop flight, allowing much higher speed and endurance than conventional helicopters. Bell Boeing Joint Program Office was awarded a contract to manufacture 39 CMV-22B aircraft for the US Navy in July 2018, under a $4bn modification to the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft advance acquisition contract.
