• The V-22 is the world's first production tiltrotor aircraft.

The Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft with a 38-foot rotor system and engine/transmission nacelle mounted on each wing tip. It can operate as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. Once airborne, the nacelles rotate forward 90 degrees for horizontal flight, converting the V-22 to a high-speed, fuel-efficient turboprop airplane. The wing rotates for compact storage aboard ship. The first flight occurred in March 1989. The V-22 is the world's first production tiltrotor aircraft. Planned purchases include 360 for the Marine Corps, 48 for the Navy and 50 for the Air Force.

   Bell Helicopter and Boeing Vertol joined forces during the early 1980s to develop a larger scale aircraft of the XV-15 tilt-rotor demonstrator program for the Joint Services Advanced Vertical Lift Aircraft program, which combined the vertical takeoff capabilities of a helicopter and the efficiencies of a fixed-wing aircraft. The V-22 was awarded with full-scale development in 1985. Flight testing of the V-22 started on March 19, 1989, and it successfully demonstrated airborne transition from helicopter to wing-borne flight in September 1989.