The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter and flies forward like an airplane. Department of Defense (DOD) plans call for procuring a total of 458 V-22s—360 MV-22s for the Marine Corps; 50 CV-22 special operations variants for U.S. Special Operations Command, or USSOCOM (funded jointly by the Air Force and USSOCOM); and 48 HV-22s for the Navy. The proposed FY2012 budget requested funding for the procurement of 30 MV-22s and 7 CV-22s, with one CV-22 to be paid for from Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. The budget requested about $2.5 billion in procurement and advance procurement funding for procurement of MV-22s, and about $499.9 million in procurement and advance procurement funding for procurement of CV-22s. For FY2012, the V-22 program poses a number of potential oversight issues for Congress, including the aircraft's readiness rates, reliability and maintainability, operational suitability, and whether to approve a follow-on multiyear procurement contract. A Marine MV-22 crashed during a training exercise in Morcco on April 11, 2012. Two Marine crew chiefs were killed and the two pilots severely injured. A cause for the accident has not yet been established. According to the December, 2011 Selected Acquisition Report, the V-22's cost per flying hour in FY2011 was 13% less than the FY2010 equivalent. Also, The Mission Capability (MC) rate improved by 19% above the FY 2010 rate. These improvements are being achieved through team execution of a comprehensive plan, which has included reliability and maintainability improvements, maintenance concept changes, standup of additional repair capability, improved repair turnaround times, repair price reductions, and contract strategy changes. This comports with earlier projections by the head of Marine aviation, who said in September, 2011, that V-22 operational costs have been reduced by $3,000 per hour through operational procedure changes. In addition to lowering the operational costs, the readiness rate and part reliability have also been noted improvements as the previously troubled V-22 program is "right at turning the corner," Lt. Gen. Terry Robling said at a breakfast hosted by the Navy League. "Were finding better ways to fly it–-more cost effective ways," Robling said. The flight time cost has been shaved down from $12,000 per hour to $9,000 and lower in some cases, he said. Col. Greg Masiello, V-22 program manager for the Naval Air Systems Command, said the Marine Corps will stand up two V-22 squadrons of 12 aircraft each in Okinawa, and the Air Force Special Operations Command will establish one at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England. The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter and flies forward like an airplane. For taking off and landing, the aircraft's two wingtip-mounted engine nacelles are tilted upward, so that the rotors function like a helicopter's rotor blades. For forward flight, the nacelles are rotated 90 degrees forward, so that the rotors function like an airplane's propellers. The Navy states that the V-22 "performs VTOL [vertical takeoff and landing] missions as effectively as a conventional helicopter while also having the long-range cruise abilities of a twin turboprop aircraft." The MV-22 is designed to transport 24 fully equipped Marines at a cruising speed of about 250 knots (about 288 mph), exceeding the performance of the Marine Corps CH-46 medium-lift assault helicopters that MV-22s are to replace. The CV-22 has about 90% airframe commonality with the MV-22; the primary differences between the two variants are in their avionics. The CV-22 is designed to carry 18 troops, with auxiliary fuel tanks increasing the aircraft's combat radius to about 500 miles. Figure 1 shows a picture of an MV-22 with its engine nacelles rotated at about a 45-degree angle, or roughly halfway between the upward VTOL position and the forward-flight position. The V-22 is a joint-service, multi-mission aircraft. The Navy, which is the lead service for the V-22 program, states that "the Marine Corps version, the MV-22A, will be an assault transport for troops, equipment and supplies, and will be capable of operating from ships or from expeditionary airfields ashore. The Navy's HV-22A will provide combat search and rescue, [as well as] delivery and retrieval of special warfare teams along with fleet logistic support transport. The Air Force CV-22A will conduct long-range special operations missions." Specific CV-22 missions include "long range, high speed infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply to Special Forces teams in hostile, denied, and politically sensitive areas." Marine Corps leaders believe that the MV-22 provides significant operational advantages compared to the CH-46, particularly in terms of speed in forward flight. The V-22 has been the Marine Corps' top aviation priority for many years. [Marice Corps Commandant James] Amos cites the Tactical Recovery of Aircraft Personnel mission that an Osprey performed during Libyan operations to rescue an Air Force pilot after his F-15 was downed. The Osprey launched from the USS Kearsarge amphibious assault ship and returned with the pilot within about 90 min.—a feat, Amos says, no other aircraft could have completed. Without the Osprey, he said during an Oct. 26 Washington Meetings Event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, "We'd be negotiating with Gadhafi for the release of that pilot." In 2013, HMX-1, the squadron that flies support missions for the White House, including operating the Marine One helicopter, will begin receiving 12 Ospreys to carry cargo and passengers—including Secret Service agents, White House staff, and the news media—during presidential trips. Regarding the V-22's role as a combat search and rescue aircraft, particularly as a possible replacement for a canceled CSAR helicopter program called CSAR-X, an October 9, 2009, press report stated: Boeing officials last week insisted that their V-22 Osprey is a viable aircraft for risky combat search-and-rescue missions despite findings in a recent Pentagon report claiming the tiltrotor was outclassed in the rescue mission by other special operations helicopters. "We still see [the Osprey] as very effective" in the CSAR role, said Gene Cunningham, Boeing's V-22 program manager, during an Oct. 2 telephone interview. "I think, in a CSAR configuration, the aircraft fulfills all of the requirements" for the mission…. Meanwhile, the Air Force and Marines are working to boost the V-22's firepower with the addition of a removable, belly-mounted 360-degree minigun linked to a sensor package that will give the crew chief a complete view of the outside environment. A limited number of the BAE-built weapon is set to deploy with Marine Corps Ospreys to Afghanistan this fall. Cunningham also noted the aircraft's impressive speed—277 miles per hour in cruise mode—as giving it an advantage in the rescue role. The V-22 is also under consideration to replace the C-2 Greyhound in the carrier onboard delivery mission. Advocates note that unlike the C-2, which is a fixed-wing turboprop airplane, the V-22 could land on ships that do not have a runway or arrester gear. The V-22 is undergoing carrier qualifications now. The Navy's official target date for replacing its C-2As is 2026, but realistically it will have to act sooner given its COD fleet's age. The service recently finished an Analysis of Alternatives that included comparing the V-22 to other options, such as remanufacturing its 35 C-2As to extend their service life or buying new ones from Northrop Grumman Corp., but the results of the AoA haven't been released. The V-22 was developed and is being produced by Bell Helicopter Textron of Fort Worth, TX, and Boeing Helicopters of Philadelphia, PA. The aircraft's engines are produced by Allison Engine Company of Indianapolis, IN, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce North America. Fuselage assembly is performed in Philadelphia, PA. Drive system rotors and composite assembly is performed in Fort Worth, TX, and final assembly and delivery is performed in Amarillo, TX. Department of Defense (DOD) plans call for procuring a total of 458 V-22s—360 MV-22s for the Marine Corps; 50 CV-22 special operations variants for U.S. Special Operations Command, or USSOCOM (funded jointly by the Air Force and USSOCOM); and 48 HV-22s for the Navy. Through FY2011, a total of 247 V-22s have been procured—211 MV-22s for the Marine Corps, and 36 CV-22s for USSOCOM. These totals include several V-22s that have been procured in recent years through supplemental appropriations bills. No HV-22s have yet been procured for the Navy. Table 1 shows annual procurement quantities of MV-22s and CV-22s funded through DOD's regular (aka "base") budget. The table exclude s the several V-22s that have been procured in recent years through wartime supplemental appropriations bills as replacements for legacy helicopters lost as a result of wartime operations. Production in calendar 2011 was 34 aircraft (28 MV-22/6 CV-22).