A joint Navy-Marine Corps test team has completed the first lot acceptance test of sonobuoys from an MV-22B Osprey off San Clemente Island, California, using the tiltrotor as an alternate platform for the Navy’s sonobuoy quality assurance programme. The effort involved the Air Anti-Submarine Warfare Systems Program Office, the V-22 Joint Program Office and Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One.
The test was carried out on 19 August and publicly disclosed on 22 September. It demonstrated that the MV-22B can support quality assurance work when primary aircraft are unavailable, helping reduce testing backlogs and keep sonobuoy deliveries on schedule. Unlike the Navy’s usual automated drop method, the Osprey mission used manual launches from the rear cargo ramp.
The Navy has traditionally relied on P-3C Orion aircraft for this type of overwater validation, making the Osprey a substitute rather than a new tactical anti-submarine warfare asset. Even so, the result broadens the aircraft’s potential role beyond transport into undersea sensor logistics and fleet readiness support.