A flurry of photographers arrived in ye olde e-mail inbox this morning from local aircraft enthusiasts.
These people can also use a camera.
With the better pictures, it is now easy to confirm that the aircraft belong to 8th Special Operations Squadron, US Air Force unit that is part of Special Operations Command.
To quote the factsheet:
“The primary mission of the 8th SOS is insertion, extraction, and re-supply of unconventional warfare forces and equipment into hostile or enemy-controlled territory using airland or airdrop procedures. Numerous secondary missions include psychological operations, aerial reconnaissance and helicopter air refuelling. To accomplish these varied missions, the 8th SOS utilizes the CV-22 Osprey, a highly specialized Bell-Boeing tilt-rotor aircraft.”
They fly out of Hurlburt Field in Florida.
Unlike the Marine and Navy aircraft, these come with a variety of specialised attachment including countermeasures, radio and different radar.
Here’s a shot of the one included in last night’s update.
You can see some of the additional bumps on the nose to accommodate some of the specialised add-ons.
Here’s another spectacular photo of 0028 on approach.
Look at the tail ramp and you can make out the loadmaster next to what appears to be a weapons mount covered in a yellow tarpaulin.
Turns out to that these aircraft have been through St. John’s before. In October 2008, they transited through St. John’s, presumably on the way to an international exercise in Mali.
The photos below are from the October visit. They clearly show “0028” and “0031” both of which went through St. John’s in the past 24 hours, destination across the Atlantic presumably.
“0031” with blades folded.
Another aircraft being readied for flight.
“0031” ready to launch.
