Osprey passes Pentagon tests, takes aim at Air Force bid

Posted on: Sep. 15th, 2005 || Source: marketwatch.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The V-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft has passed Pentagon testing and builders Boeing Co. (BA) and Bell Helicopter are hoping it will win new U.S. Air Force orders, company officials said Wednesday.

The Osprey is on track to reach combat-ready status in 2007, said Bob Carrese, Bell's executive director of V-22 business development, in an Air Force Association press briefing. Bell Helicopter is a unit of Textron Inc. (TXT).

On Sept. 27, the Pentagon has scheduled a defense acquisition board to decide whether the program can enter full-rate production. Last week, chief Pentagon weapons buyer Ken Krieg notified Congress that the aircraft recently went through "successful operational testing" of key functions.

"The V-22 can be operated effectively, taking into account the downwash effects inherent in the operation of the aircraft," Krieg wrote in a Sept. 8 letter to defense budget committees.

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