U.S. Navy Retires C-2A Greyhound After Six Decades Of Carrier Logistics

U.S. Navy C-2A Greyhound Retirement Ends A Six-Decade Logistics Era

The C-2A Greyhound retirement marks the end of nearly 60 years of U.S. Navy carrier onboard delivery operations, closing the career of a specialized aircraft that routinely carried personnel, mail, aircraft parts and priority supplies between shore bases and aircraft carriers at sea.

The Navy’s final C-2A, assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40, or VRC-40 Rawhides, completed its final in-service flight at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, on July 28, 2026. The aircraft subsequently joined the National Naval Aviation Museum collection.

The retirement represents a significant transition in naval aviation logistics. The C-2A has been replaced in the Carrier Onboard Delivery mission by the Navy’s CMV-22B Osprey tiltrotor, shifting the service from a conventional carrier-based transport aircraft to an aircraft capable of vertical and short takeoffs and landings.

Final C-2A Carrier Operations

The last carrier chapter for the U.S. Navy C-2A Greyhound came on June 25, when Greyhounds from VRC-40 conducted their final arrested landings and catapult launches aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz during Fleet Exercise 250.

The event ended the Greyhound’s carrier operations after decades of routine launches and recoveries aboard U.S. aircraft carriers. The final aircraft later flew from Norfolk, Virginia, to Pensacola for its last Navy flight.

The July Pensacola flight also provided a formal farewell. The final Greyhound flew with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels before landing at Sherman Field, where it was transferred for preservation.

The Navy said the aircraft accumulated more than 250,000 carrier landings during its service. Across its operational career, the C-2A transported millions of personnel and more than 100 million pounds of cargo.

A Purpose-Built Carrier Logistics Aircraft

The C-2A was developed from the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye design. Unlike the E-2, which was optimized for airborne early warning, the Greyhound featured a widened fuselage and rear cargo ramp for transporting people and equipment.

NAVAIR describes the aircraft as a high-wing, twin-engine Carrier Onboard Delivery aircraft. Its configuration allowed crews to move priority cargo, passengers, litter patients and critical aircraft components directly between shore facilities and carriers.

The aircraft could carry a payload of up to 10,000 pounds, making it particularly useful when carriers required urgent delivery of heavy or specialized equipment. Its rear loading ramp also allowed ground crews to load and unload cargo quickly.

The C-2A’s mission went beyond routine resupply. The aircraft also transported mail and personnel and could support medical evacuation requirements. For sailors deployed aboard carriers for months at a time, the arrival of a Greyhound could also mean the arrival of mail, replacement personnel or urgently needed equipment.

Keeping The Greyhound In Service

The aircraft’s long career required extensive maintenance and structural work.

NAVAIR began a Service Life Extension Program to address structural and electrical issues as the C-2A fleet approached its original service-life limits. The program included structural enhancements and electrical rewiring intended to extend the aircraft’s useful life.

That work helped keep the Greyhound available while the Navy developed and fielded a replacement.

The C-2A first flew in 1964, with the aircraft entering the Navy’s operational Carrier Onboard Delivery role in the following years. The platform became a familiar presence aboard carrier strike groups and supported Navy operations across multiple decades.

The aircraft also supported operations during major U.S. military campaigns, including Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, as well as later operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

CMV-22B Osprey Takes Over Carrier Logistics

The C-2A carrier onboard delivery mission is now being performed by the CMV-22B Osprey.

The CMV-22B is a Navy variant of the V-22 tiltrotor family. It can take off and land vertically like a helicopter while using its engines and rotors in a forward-flight configuration for longer-distance transportation. NAVAIR identifies the aircraft as the replacement for the C-2A in the COD mission.

The change gives the Navy different operating options. Unlike the C-2A, the CMV-22B does not depend exclusively on conventional runway operations or carrier catapults for its basic takeoff and landing capability.

NAVAIR lists a cargo and personnel capacity of up to 6,000 pounds and a range of up to 1,150 nautical miles. The Navy variant also includes features such as a beyond-line-of-sight high-frequency radio, improved fuel dump capability, a passenger public-address system and improved cargo-loading lighting.

The aircraft is also designed to support the F-35C-equipped carrier air wing. One important requirement for the CMV-22B was the ability to transport the F-35’s F135 engine power module, an item that can be difficult to move through conventional maritime logistics channels.

The CMV-22B reached Initial Operational Capability in 2021, and the Navy has continued expanding its operational use as the Greyhound fleet approached retirement.

What The Retirement Means For Carrier Operations

The C-2A Greyhound retirement is more than the withdrawal of an aging aircraft. It changes how the Navy moves time-sensitive personnel and cargo between shore bases and carrier strike groups.

The Greyhound’s fixed-wing design was closely tied to carrier catapult and arresting gear operations. The Osprey brings a different operating model, combining tiltrotor performance with vertical and short takeoff and landing capability.

That flexibility can allow logistics aircraft to operate from a wider range of locations and interact with other elements of a carrier strike group without relying exclusively on conventional fixed-wing carrier launch and recovery procedures. NAVAIR describes the CMV-22B as a long-range, medium-lift element of the Navy’s intra-theater aerial logistics capability.

The transition also closes a distinctive chapter in naval aviation. The Navy’s final Greyhound flight marked the end of an aircraft type that had become closely associated with carrier life, from the delivery of aircraft components and supplies to the movement of sailors and mail.

The C-2A will now continue its service in a different form as a preserved aircraft. The final Greyhound transferred to the National Naval Aviation Museum, where it is planned for public display after rehabilitation.

The End Of The Greyhound Era

The C-2A Greyhound remained in service far longer than many of the aircraft that operated alongside it, adapting through structural upgrades and sustained maintenance to meet the Navy’s carrier logistics requirements.

Its retirement on July 28, 2026, formally closes that operational chapter. The CMV-22B Osprey now carries the responsibility for the Navy’s carrier onboard delivery mission, bringing a different combination of range, vertical landing capability and cargo flexibility to a role that remains essential to carrier operations.

For nearly six decades, the Greyhound’s job was straightforward but critical: connect the carrier at sea with the shore. Its final flight marks the end of that mission for the C-2A, but not the end of the Navy’s requirement for rapid, reliable aerial logistics.