Bell-Boeing Expecting at Least Two International Orders for V-22 Osprey in 2015

V-22 Osprey has yet to land an international contract, but company executives are betting that they will have two foreign customers in hand by the end of the year.
Japan’s ministry of defense announced the purchase 17 Ospreys last year, although there is no contract set in stone yet. Israel had plans to buy the tiltrotor, but that deal remains in flux due to budget constraints.
Additionally, the platform has received significant interest from countries in the Middle East.
The Navy in their fiscal 2016 budget disclosed plans to buy 44 aircraft for what the service calls carrier onboard delivery — that is, flying people, supplies and cargo on and off flattops.
The Navy’s Ospreys will probably be slightly different than those flown by the Marine Corps and special operators.
Northrop Grumman’s C-2 Greyhound has filled the carrier onboard delivery role since 1966. Northrop proposed modernizing the C-2’s wings, engine and avionics, which executives claimed would be at least two times less expensive than buying a new aircraft. Bell-Boeing asserted that the Osprey would be more cost-effective over the long haul.
According to the budget, the Navy plans to procure 22 V-22s in fiscal years 2018 through 2020. That will likely result in another five-year multiyear contract for Ospreys to be signed before the current one ends in September of calendar year 2018.
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