The C-2A Greyhound carried out its final ever catapult launch from a U.S. Navy plane provider, ending its 60-year Provider On-board Supply mission.
The U.S. Navy’s C-2A Greyhound has flown off an plane provider for its final time, ending its 60-year Provider On-board Supply (COD) mission which is able to now be handed to the brand new CMV-22B Osprey. The final arrested landings and catapult launches have been carried out on June 25, 2026, throughout the Fleet Train (FLEETEX) 250.
The plane concerned on this final mission at sea have been two C-2A Greyhounds connected to the “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Assist Squadron 40, which operated from the usNimitz (CVN 68) plane provider. The C-2s flew to the provider and again to move Vice Adm. Doug Perry, commander of U.S. 2nd Fleet, and different passengers for a distinguished customer tour aboard the ship.
The 2 Greyhounds have been additionally seen on deck within the pictures with the MQ-25’s T1 take a look at asset and 4 F/A-18E Tremendous Hornets. Following this final catapult launch, the C-2 will proceed to fly till later this 12 months, when the retirement might be accomplished.
It ought to be famous that these have been additionally the final arrested touchdown and catapult launch ever for the COD mission, not just for the C-2. In actual fact, because the CMV-22B is a tiltrotor plane, it won’t want to make use of arresting wires and catapults whereas working from the flight deck of an plane provider.
The C-2A Greyhound
The Grumman C-2A Greyhound served for six a long time because the U.S. Navy’s devoted Provider Onboard Supply (COD) plane. All through the years, it offered a important logistical hyperlink between shore bases and provider strike teams at sea.
The C-2 shares its DNA with the E-2 Hawkeye, from which it was derived within the Sixties. The 2 plane share the identical wings, engines and distinctive tail configuration. Aside for the lacking radar dome, the primary distinction on the C-2 is the widened fuselage with a rear loading ramp.
]]]]]]>]]]]>]]>
This allowed the plane to hold passengers, mail, high-priority cargo and important spare elements. The C-2A flew for the primary time in 1964 and entered operational service in 1966, changing the piston-powered C-1 Dealer.
Due to its capability to move urgently wanted tools, the C-2 shortly grew to become an indispensable part of provider operations. The Greyhound fleet was first overhauled in 1973, and in 1984 extra C-2As have been ordered below designation Reprocured C-2A or C-2A(R).
Within the early 2000s, these underwent a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP), which elevated their life from 10,000 hours, or 15,000 provider landings to fifteen,000 hours or 36,000 landings. Moreover, the SLEP included structural enhancements to the middle wing, an eight-bladed NP2000 propeller and avionic upgrades.
The upgrades have been meant to permit the Greyhound to fly till 2027. The final flight off an plane provider on June 25, 2026, now marks the top of fixed-wing provider onboard supply because the mission now transitions to rotary wing.
The CMV-22B Osprey
The V-22B Osprey was chosen to exchange the C-2A Greyhound because the U.S. Navy’s Provider Onboard Supply (COD) plane in 2015, and obtained the CMV-22B designation a 12 months later. The choice introduced a essentially totally different method to fleet logistics, transferring from mounted wing to rotary wing.
In actual fact, slightly than counting on catapult launches and arrested recoveries, the tiltrotor can take off and land vertically. This introduces extra flexibility to the COD mission, because the CMV-22B would be capable of transfer personnel and cargo all through a provider strike group with out being restricted to the provider itself.
The CMV-22B is derived from the Marine Corps’ MV-22B, however it incorporates a number of modifications tailor-made to the COD mission. Probably the most seen are enlarged gas tanks built-in into each the wings and the ahead sponsons, extending the plane’s unrefueled vary to roughly 1,150 nautical miles.
Different adjustments embrace beyond-line-of-sight communications, improved cargo dealing with tools and a public handle system within the cabin. Crucially, the plane is supposed to hold the F-35C Lightning II‘s Pratt & Whitney F135 engine internally, a functionality that was not obtainable to the C-2 because it was too giant to suit inside its cargo bay.
The CMV-22B flew for the primary time in December 2019 and, a 12 months later, in November 2020, carried out the kind’s first landings and take-offs aboard the plane provider USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). The plane achieved the preliminary operational functionality (IOC) in December 2021.
The Navy subsequently established devoted Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadrons (VRM) on each the U.S. West and East Coasts because the Osprey progressively assumed the COD mission from the Greyhound. The transition, nonetheless, has not been with out challenges.
In actual fact, following the fleet-wide grounding of the V-22 after the deadly U.S. Air Pressure CV-22 crash off Japan in late 2023, the Navy needed to surge the final C-2A squadron to fulfill the COD wants. On the similar time, operational testing highlighted reliability and maintainability points that the service has continued to deal with because the platform matures.
