V-22 Osprey

The V-22 Osprey is an American military tiltrotor aircraft jointly produced by Bell Helicopter and Boeing, combining the vertical takeoff and landing ability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a turboprop airplane by rotating its two wingtip-mounted engine nacelles between vertical and horizontal flight. As the first production tiltrotor aircraft of its kind, it underwent an unusually long development process, first flying in 1989 but not entering United States Marine Corps service until June 2007, followed by the Air Force in 2009 and the Navy in 2021, with Japan becoming the first international customer in 2020. Used primarily for troop and cargo transport, the Osprey can operate from small ships and austere landing zones inaccessible to fixed-wing transports while cruising far faster and farther than a conventional helicopter, a combination that has made it central to Marine Corps expeditionary operations from ships such as the Wasp-class amphibious assault ships.