Pentagon Says It's Ready

Five years after 23 Marines lost their lives in flight testing, the Pentagon is ready to authorize full production of the V-22 Tiltrotor Osprey.

"Yes, we do expect approval of full production," one military official who didn't want to be named told Reuters Monday.

In a letter to Congress dated September 8th, the head of Pentagon acquisitions, Kenneth Krieg, told members of Congress that the operational testing concluded in June showed the Osprey now meets requirements set forth four years ago. Until that critical milestone was reached, Congress had capped the number of V-22 in all its variations at just 11 a year.

The military's office of testing and evaluation is expected to issue a similar report later this week, according to Pentagon insiders. Once it does, production of the Osprey, built by Bell/Textron and Boeing, is expected to eventually rise to 48 a year.

Approval by the Defense Acquisition Board is expected September 27th. That means full-rate production, priced at approximately $50 billion a year, will start ramping up almost immediately.

FMI: www.boeing.com/rotorcraft/military/v22/flash.html