U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pfc. Mike Granahan

(Photo Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pfc. Mike Granahan)

The V-22 Osprey has finally outgrown its shaky, deadly development phase and is becoming the game-changing rotorcraft the Pentagon envisioned, capable of flying as fast as an airplane but taking off and landing like a helicopter. The proof is in a round of new aircraft sales to the Department of Defense that is set to be signed Wednesday.

In an interview with Reuters, the Marine Corps colonel in charge of the program said the U.S. would buy 99 more Ospreys from its manufacturers, Boeing and Bell Helicopter. The Marines will get 92, while the Air Force (which uses them for Special Operations) will get the remaining seven. The deal is worth approximately $6.5 billion.

For an aircraft that armchair critics have decried as unsafe and unwieldy, the Osprey is being adopted at a brisk pace. There are 214 Ospreys in service now. Two V-22s fly with the military unit that escorts the president. In fact, as PM has reported, the Osprey's main problem these days is not safety but money—the aircraft is still very costly to operate. However, those costs might be coming down as the military's maintainers learn more about the aircraft. The purchase costs also come down when services buy in bulk: This 99-aircraft order reportedly saved the Pentagon $1 billion compared to purchasing Ospreys a few at a time.

Osprey doubters might have the sense that Pentagon is merely backing its own aircraft, warts and all, with an outsized order. But the skeptics would be disappointed to see international orders coming in the near future. In April, Israel became the rotorcraft's first foreign buyer, snatching up a half dozen Ospreys at about $70 million each. Nations in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America have been briefed on the program. If the aircraft's reputation rises and its operating cost sinks, they too could also adopt the V-22.

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