V-22 Osprey
ICAO V22The only tiltrotor in military service: it takes off like a helicopter and cruises like a turboprop. Live V-22 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30sAirframe
- Manufacturer
- Bell Boeing
- Role
- Tiltrotor assault transport
- Class
- T2T — Tiltrotor, 2 turboshaft engines
- Crew
- 4
- First flight
- 19 March 1989
- In service
- 2007
Operators airborne
About the V-22 Osprey
The V-22 is the one aircraft on this site that genuinely does not fit either category. Its engine nacelles rotate, so it lifts off vertically and then flies as a fixed-wing turboprop at roughly twice the speed of the helicopters it replaced. The ICAO classification reflects that with its own code — T2T, tiltrotor, two turboshafts.
Three variants share the designator. The Marine Corps MV-22 is the assault transport and by far the most numerous; the Air Force CV-22 does special operations; the Navy CMV-22 carries cargo out to carriers, a job the C-2 Greyhound used to do.
It appears on ADS-B less consistently than transports do, and its sorties are short, so the live count moves around a lot. Japan is the only export operator.
Callsign prefixes
- KNIFE
- US Air Force special operations CV-22
- EVIL
- Another recurring CV-22 block
- MAGIC
- Frequently seen on Marine Corps MV-22 flights
How to recognise it
- —Two very large proprotors on wingtip nacelles that tilt between vertical and horizontal.
- —A short fuselage with a rear ramp and sponsons along the lower sides.
- —On the feed, an aircraft with a helicopter's low altitude and a turboprop's cruise speed is almost always this.
Common questions
+ Is the V-22 a helicopter or a plane?
Both, sequentially. It takes off and lands with the nacelles vertical, flying as a helicopter, then rotates them forward to cruise on its wing as a fixed-wing aircraft. ICAO gives it its own airframe class rather than filing it under either.
+ What is the difference between the MV-22, CV-22 and CMV-22?
MV-22 is the Marine Corps assault transport, CV-22 the Air Force special operations variant with extra fuel and terrain-following radar, and CMV-22 the Navy carrier resupply aircraft. All three appear under the V22 designator here.
+ How fast is a V-22 compared with a helicopter?
Roughly double. It cruises near 270 knots against about 140 for a UH-60, and its range is several times greater, which is the whole reason the tiltrotor arrangement was worth the complexity.