WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Pentagon 2007 budget plan would boost funding for the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft built by Bell Helicopter, a unit of Textron Inc.
The program has recovered after nearly being canceled several years ago following two deadly accidents.
Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas told reporters the budget earmarked a "very substantial" amount of money to buy 16 V-22s, or Ospreys, which take off and land like a helicopter, but can fly like a plane.
The investment in Ospreys is part of $27.1 billion in outlays to acquire a variety of aircraft aimed at helping maintain the United States' "traditional" superiority in conventional war capabilities, Jonas told reporters.
The total includes 14 MV-22 variants for the Marines, and 2 CV-22 variants for the Air Force.
The Pentagon in September decided to accelerate production of the V-22, which will replace the Navy's aging workhorse CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter.
The Osprey can fly twice as fast at more than twice the altitude, with three times the payload and six times the range.
The Bush administration proposed the funding as part of its overall record $439.3 billion defense budget for fiscal 2007, which begins on Oct. 1. Congress will spend the coming months debating and finalizing spending for various U.S. federal departments.
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