MV-22 Osprey, MQ9 Reaper to make debuts at Lethbridge International Airshow
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LETHBRIDGE – It looks somewhat like an airplane, but it can operate like a helicopter, rising and lowering vertically, with no need for a runway takeoff.
The MV-22 Osprey is one of the U.S. Marine Corps primary assault aircrafts, and has been deployed to support troops in combat since 2007.
It has never appeared before appeared at a western Canadian Airshow.
Brent Botfield is the Lethbridge International Airshow Past President, and says at least one Osprey will come to Lethbridge from the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, California, adding it was a coup to get them to bring one to the city.
“It was a lot of asking, a lot of talking, being really nice to a few people, inviting them up, telling them what a great place it is here, our hospitality- which time and time has gotten crews that have been here before to want to come back again. People have treated them well before.”
In addition to that aircraft, there are three other military acts now confirmed for the Airshow.
They include:
- MQ9 Reaper, an armed, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, will also make its first appearance ever in Canada, from the Creech Air force base in Nevada, and will be operated by a local pilot from Magrath.
- P8 Poseiden- an “anti- submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare” aircraft.
- A-10 Thunderbolt, also known as “The Flying Gun.” It can fly below 1000 ft. and shoots depleted uranium, armour piercing shells at a rate of 3,900 rounds per minute.
