The Navy and manufacturing partners Boeing [BA] and Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT] have shared information about the capabilities of the V-22 Osprey with more than a dozen countries that could be interested in the tilt-rotor aircraft.
Boeing officials have previously said they are pushing for international sales of the V-22s but had not specified, other than Israel, which countries might be interested. Col. Greg Masiello, in a slide presentation at the Paris Air Show that was later distributed by Boeing, outlined the countries that have received information about the V-22s.
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| Photo by Boeing |
They include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, India, Italy, Japan, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
Israel had already been publicly disclosed as the potential first international buyer in April when the Pentagon announced a Middle East arms package that included V-22s for Israel. The quantity was not disclosed at the time because it was still subject to negotiations.
The V-22s are built through a teaming arrangement between Boeing and Bell, a division of Textron. The Marine Corps is the main customer for the V-22s. The Air Force has also purchased a handful of the aircraft.
The Navy proposed spending $1.5 billion in fiscal 2014 for 18 V-22s for the Marines under the second year of a five-year multi-year contract, with plans to buy 78 through fiscal 2018.