US Navy Increasingly Reliant on Cold War-Era Cargo Planes Following Osprey Disaster

As its fleet of CMV-22B tiltrotor aircraft remains grounded, the US Navy now finds itself relying on the older C-2 Greyhound cargo aircraft to support the 5th and 7th fleets' aircraft carriers.

The US Navy currently has only one squadron of C-2s that consists of 15 such aircraft available for onboard deliveries, according to a statement made by a spokeswoman for the commander of US Naval Air Forces.

“VRC-40 is currently surging to meet the [carrier onboard delivery] mission for deployed aircraft carriers in US 5th and 7th Fleets,” the US Naval Air Forces said in a statement earlier this week.

The US Navy and US Air Force grounded their V-22 Osprey aircraft (CMV-22B is the naval version of the V-22) after one CV-22B (the USAF version of V-22) crashed in Japan in November 2023, prompting a lengthy investigation.

Vice Admiral Daniel Cheever, commander of the US Naval Air Forces, warned that the US Navy may end up facing “significant operational impacts” in the future if its CMV-22Bs were to remain grounded, Breaking Defense online media outlet noted.

However, Cheever also reportedly said that the US Navy currently sees no need to reactivate the C-2s the United States has stored away in long-term preservation.

The C-2 Greyhound aircraft is a twin-engine cargo aircraft that entered into service in the 1960s and whose primary mission was to transport personnel and cargo to US aircraft carriers at sea.