The U.S. Navy will kick off an effort to replace its fleet of 27 C-2A Greyhound aircraft with 38 CMV-22B Osprey aircraft this year, with plans to conduct transition from 2020 through 2026, USNI News reported Wednesday.The U.S. Fleet Forces Command issued a draft environmental assessment that includes new details on the planned transition, which was announced in January 2015.
C-2A planes provide personnel and cargo delivery support to the Navy’s fleet of nuclear aircraft carriers in U.S. and abroad.
The CMV-22B Osprey variant will feature a larger fuel tank, additional communications platforms and a public address system and will be based at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia and Naval Air Station North Island in California, where C-2As currently operate.
The Navy aims to achieve full operational capability for CMV-22B in 2024 and conduct full deployment in 2028, the assessment document noted.
The service branch will start facility upgrades this year, although it has yet to decide where to place the Fleet Replacement Squadron that will train all Navy Osprey pilots.
