The CV-22, the special operations version of the controversial Osprey tiltrotor, is now ready to take on combat missions for the first time.

Capt. Laura Ropelis, an Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman, confirmed to DANGER ROOM that the first CV-22 squadron was certified "initial operation capable" as of this month. Translated into plain English, that means the CV-22 can now be employed effectively as a weapons system (and that "full" capability may be declared further down the road).

It's a milestone that's been almost thirty years in the making. The requirements for the CV-22 emerged in part from the lessons of Operation Eagle Claw, the failed attempt to rescue hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The CV-22 is customized for commando missions (long-range infiltration, extraction and resupply) and can fly much farther and faster than any helicopter. In theory, an Osprey-type aircraft would have allowed planners to attempt the mission in one pass, rather than orchestrating the complex landing-and-refueling mission that led to the debacle at Desert One.

The special operations community has already put the new machines through their paces in exercises. The aircraft also took part in a real-world operation, assisting the Coast Guard last year in a freighter rescue during Hurricane Ike; Ospreys of Air Force Special Operations Command also took part in Flintlock 2008, a joint military exercise in West Africa last November.

Incidentally, the Marine Corps version of the bird, the MV-22, has already seen service in Iraq; the Marines are now weighing whether to send the aircraft to Afghanistan later this year.

[PHOTO: U.S. Air Force]

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