SPECTATORS captured the moment when a futuristic-looking military aircraft arrived for a training exercise on Portland.

A Bell Boeing CV-22B Osprey from US Special Operations Command visited Portland Harbour and the HeliOps training base at Osprey Quay to undertake a training exercise.

The tiltrotor aircraft is operated by the US Air Force and Marine Corps and visited Portland from the Mildenhall base in Suffolk.

It is a fixed-wing aircraft that can also hover and land like a helicopter.

Keith Peckover, 71, from Portland captured the Osprey landing and departing at the base at around 4pm on Wednesday.

He added: “I saw the Osprey fly across the harbour and saw it land at the helicopter base.

“There also was a tug in the harbour which I believe was involved in the exercise and they were lifting divers out of the water.”

John Blackman, 70 from Wyke Regis, added: “I saw the Osprey fly over early on Wednesday afternoon, I didn’t go over to HeliOps straight away as I only thought it was passing through.

“However, it then started hovering around so I grabbed my camera and headed over to the HeliOps base.

“I just got my camera out and snapped it as it left for the first time and then waited for it to return at around 4.30pm.

“At 4.30pm, the Osprey then picked up some military personnel who arrived in an unmarked van.”

Mr Blackman added that he also spotted a number of personnel getting winched onto the aircraft.

Steve Gladstone, chief executive of HeliOps Portland, said they regularly hosted military exercises including the visit from the US Air Force.

The CV-22 Osprey is a type of tiltrotor aircraft that combines the vertical take-off, hover and vertical landing qualities of a helicopter with the long-range, fuel efficiency and speed characteristics of a turboprop aircraft.

Currently, the US Air Force uses them to conduct ‘long-range infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions’ for special forces operations.

A spokesman for the Royal Air Force confirmed that the Osprey had come from USAF Mildenhall for a training exercise.

USAF Mildenhall did not comment on the training exercise when approached by the Dorset Echo.