Pentagon Can't Get Enough Ospreys

It’s true:

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.

The Osprey is one hell of a bird, and does exactly what it was supposed to, exactly the way it was supposed to.

I’ve never been so happy to have been so wrong.