Thanos Thanos:
Isn't the Osprey too large, in terms of wingspan, to be used on our frigates? Yeah it'd be great for land-based operations but we always seem to want ship-based capabilities as well so that's probably why no one's seriously considered it for purchase thus far.
Well we currently do not have any SAR aircraft landing on our Frigates as the Cormorants are not used in that role (I believe this capability was dropped from the original EH101 spec). The Sea King flies SAR missions near the areas where they are based, but I understnad that this is only done when the aircraft happend to be available and generally this is usually done within the broader context of the Maritime helicopter role (ie often, their response is a diversion from other maritime patrol duties underway) but they are not primariloy front-line SAR aircraft.
The primary target for this aircraft would presumably be the Fixed-wing SAR missions being flown by Buffalo and Herc, but maybe a V-22 would also take over for the Cormorrant in some missions as well.