The V-22 Osprey is a genuinely revolutionary airframe because the large rotors at the tips of its wings can pivot 90 degrees in flight.  What that means in practical terms is that it can take off and land like a helicopter, but once in the air it can achieve the high speed and long range of a fixed-wing turboprop airplane.  Its unrefueled range of about a thousand statute miles is similar to that of the C-2A, as is its 277 miles-per-hour cruising speed.  But unlike the C-2A, Osprey can be refueled in the air to extend its range and it can land pretty much anywhere.  It doesn’t require the kind of landing strip that fixed-wings planes like the C-2A must have to land and take off.

Read more here.