The U.S. Navy's future Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) requirement looks like it's breaking down into a straight fight between a modernized version of the current aircraft, Northrop Grumman's C-2A Greyhound, and the new contender in the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. At the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition at National Harbor, Md. (from April 8-10), both of the contenders were highlighting why their platform was the most suitable and affordable. Northrop Grumman's director of the C-2 Greyhound program Steve Squires said that the Navy would be buying into continuity if it selected to modernize its existing 35 Greyhounds. The Northrop Grumman offer is to leverage the Navy's investment in upgrading its E-2D Hawkeye, with a focus on a new center wing section and new engines together with an upgraded C-2A cabin. This would bring commonality of platform between the two aircraft closer together with a saving in logistics, not to mention crew training and operation.
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