I know the Royal Marines would like to have Ospreys as replacements for the HC4 Sea Kings, though money will be the obstacle as usual. I'm still convinced that the USMC Harrier pilots will come back from this deployment as converts to the ski jump; expect to hear them get very vocal about it! One AEW variant I have heard mentioned (as a way of getting it into service without spending megabucks) would be to fit the Ospreys with a 'palletised' version of the Sea King ASaC7s radar system. Once you have the aircraft in service then you can push for more advanced radars, whereas if you ask for it all at once the price may be too high for the bean counters. ASW is one area we are doing OK in at the moment, as the Merlin is a world leader and has a lot of potential for upgrades. I accept that an Osprey can sprint to a target area quicker than any helo, but for the RN an ASW variant will have to go to the back of the queue. AEW and trooping have to take priority as the airframes depolyed currently in these roles are by far the oldest and highest mileage. If the current plans for the CVF go ahead (STOVL) then the Osprey AEW is the best choice available, and may lead to it's adoption by the USMC for the new LHAs, giving them an extra measure of operational independence from the USN (alternatively it could be seen as increasing the number of strike carriers potentially available to the US, so the LHAs would be a useful reserve force of flight decks over and above the CVNs).
The last time I saw a military aircraft painted silver they were WW2 Mosquitos in the far east which had to have heat reflecting paint to stop the glue that held them together melting! Perhaps this scheme is a new means of reducing RCS, or perhaps modern carbon fibre aircraft are beginning to suffer from the same ailment as the Mossies!
