OSPREY PROGRAM RESTRUCTURED; V-22 TEST FLIGHTS RESUME

By RICHARD R. BURGESS
Managing Editor

V-22 exceeds expectations on return to flight. Also: Further integration of USN and USMC aviation being studied.

An MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft took to the air in late May for the first time in almost 18 months, marking the beginning of a restructured test program that will determine the future of the revolutionary aircraft in the Marine Corps and the Air Force Special Operations Command.

V-22 No. 10--one of the four original MV-22B EMD (engineering and manufacturing development) aircraft--lifted off from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and exceeded its announced flight profile of "takeoff, hover, and land." After several takeoffs, hovers, and landings, the Bell and Boeing test pilots flew the aircraft both rearward and sideward. The pilots later took the aircraft into full transition to forward flight and reached speeds of 250 knots. Naval Air Systems Command officials said that standard vibration measurements were taken to check the tracking and balance of the proprotors. No. 10 completed approximately 2.5 hours of flight during its first day back in the air.

"The long-awaited flight was a success," said Col. Daniel C. Schultz, the Department of Defense's V-22 program manager. "The Osprey not only performed what today's test plan called for but exceeded our wildest expectations."

The 29 May flight--conducted after several days of ground runs and systems checks, as well as rehearsals in the V-22 Manned Flight Simulator--was the first of a rigorous event-driven test program planned to evaluate design changes in the aircraft, primarily in the hydraulic system (more than 500 changes) and the flight-control software.

The changes--which resulted in a slight increase in the aircraft's net weight--were mandated by investigations into two fatal mishaps in 2000 in which 23 Marines were killed. The Osprey's return to flight was approved on 25 April by Edward C. Aldridge Jr., under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and
logistics.

"To ensure that no stone has been left unturned in our pursuit of safety and excellence, the entire process was structured and reviewed by the V-22 Integrated Test Team as a true first flight, almost as if the aircraft had never flown before and was making its maiden flight," said Thomas MacDonald, Boeing's chief V-22 test pilot, who took the Osprey back into the air along with Bell Helicopter test pilot William Leonard.

The restructured developmental test program--for which seven Ospreys will be assigned--will encompass 1,800 flight hours over 18 months in the period leading to the Operational Evaluation II (OPEVAL II) phase of the program. Officials stressed, however, that the test program will be "event-driven"; in other words, the aircraft's readiness for a test will take priority over the test schedule. The test program will "validate the engineering and design changes made to the aircraft," the officials said, and will focus on such areas as "vortex ring-state (VRS) boundaries, dynamic shipboard compatibility, formation flying, and low-speed hovering and landing conditions." The MV-22B's de-icing, cargo-handling, and radar-warning systems also will go through further tests.

Schultz said that the V-22 "will handle VRS better than any helicopter out there."

Osprey No. 8--an MV-22B EMD aircraft--will be used for high-rate-of-descent tests. Ospreys 21 through 24 will join Ospreys 8 and 10 for the development testing.

Only company test pilots will be allowed to fly the Osprey during the first few months of the restructured test program. Military pilots will resume flying the Osprey at a later stage of the program. Marine Maj. Paul Ryan is the first military pilot scheduled to resume flying the Osprey.

The unit cost of an MV-22B is now estimated at $68 million, including $4 million in engineering changes incorporated since the aircraft was grounded. New MV-22Bs coming off the production line in Amarillo, Texas, are manufactured less the systems affected by the engineering changes. After the design changes are validated and finalized, the affected systems will be installed in new-production aircraft and retrofitted in previously manufactured V-22s.

Schultz said that several cost-reduction initiatives, including the adoption of better tooling, already are underway for the V-22.

He said that the electric heating of rotor blades as a pitch-change technique also is being considered. The Osprey executes turns by tilting one rotor forward and the other rearward.

The finalized nacelle configuration and flight-control software changes, along with some reliability and maintainability changes, will be incorporated into what are designated "Block A" aircraft. Osprey No. 34, which will be manufactured as the first MV-22B Block A aircraft, is scheduled to be delivered to Patuxent River in July 2003--and, in December 2003, to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron 204 (VMMT-204), to begin OPEVAL II. Six Block A aircraft are required for OPEVAL II. Two Block A aircraft will be delivered to Patuxent River, and two others to Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) at Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Va.

Eight VMMT-204 MV-22Bs are currently in storage at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.; another 20 or so are stored at the Bell Helicopter facility in Amarillo.

Schultz said that the first MV-22B pilots in operational squadrons will be experienced Marine Corps helicopter or C-130 Hercules pilots, not newly winged aviators fresh from flight training.

Two more V-22 block upgrade configurations--B and C--are planned. Block B aircraft will benefit from software upgrades, reliability and maintainability improvements, and weight reduction, as well as improvements in training and logistics.

Further software upgrades and weight reductions are planned for the Corps' Block C aircraft, which also will be fitted with hoists.

The Air Force's two CV-22B prototypes--former MV-22Bs (V-22s 7 and 9)--are scheduled to resume flight tests, including tests of terrain-following radar and electronic warfare systems, in August 2002 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. They will be joined, in 2005, in the test program there by two CV-22B production-representative test vehicles.

Initial operational capability of the CV-22B will be achieved when six production aircraft have been delivered. OPEVAL of the CV-22B is scheduled to run from November 2004 through April 2005.

The Air Force's 58th Training Squadron--headquartered at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.--will accept the first production deliveries of the CV-22B in 2006. The CV-22B will replace the MH-53J special operations helicopter.

The fiscal year 2003 defense budget includes funds to continue low-rate initial production of the Osprey, with a scheduled Lot VII buy of nine MV-22Bs and two CV-2Bs under a $770 million contract awarded in March to the Bell-Boeing team. The Department of Defense considers a production rate of 11 aircraft to be the minimum needed to sustain production and maintain the aircraft's vendor base. Since March, the Naval Air Systems Command has awarded contracts totaling $357 million for Osprey development, production, and logistics support.

Navy, Marine Corps Push Fuller Integration of Aviation Forces

The Department of the Navy is evaluating several ways to achieve "fuller integration" of Navy and Marine Corps aviation forces both to improve their collective combat capabilities and to generate further cost savings.

Few details have been made public in the integration plan, not yet approved. One possible outcome that has been mentioned is a reduction (from 64 to 59) in the number of Navy and Marine Corps tactical squadrons. Another possibility is increasing (from four to ten) the number of Marine Corps fighter-attack squadrons deployed on aircraft carriers--i.e., an average of one per carrier air wing. Several other realignments of roles and squadrons are being considered.

The Department also is reported to be considering a reduction, to 10 aircraft, in the number of fighter aircraft in each squadron; there now are anywhere from 12 to 16 aircraft in each squadron. Implementation of this idea might well reduce the total number of strike aircraft on board each carrier and/or in each Marine air-ground task force. Navy Department officials stress, though, that the reduction in numbers would be more than compensated for by the increased precision-strike capabilities of such aircraft as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

The "bow wave" of future defense acquisition programs is forcing the Department of Defense to carefully scrutinize all of its procurement programs to pay for the high-tech transformational capabilities needed both to fight the war on terrorism and to meet other threats, current and future. The integration may result in reduced acquisition of JSFs and Super Hornets as part of a broader solution to the funding squeeze. The integration plan also may influence the number of carrier-capable JSFs procured compared to the number of STOVL (short-takeoff/vertical landing) variants favored, and needed, by the Marine Corps. (See related article by Loren Thompson in the June issue of Sea Power.)

Enduring Freedom Update

Contact with al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan has remained at a relatively low level in recent weeks. The Navy continues to maintain one carrier battle group (CVBG) in the region, centered most recently on the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy with Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW-7) embarked. Ships of the USS John C. Stennis Battle Group returned to their West Coast homeports on 28 May. The group's assigned air wing, CVW-9, dropped more than 275,000 pounds of ordnance on targets in Afghanistan during the CVBG's deployment.

Air support in Afghanistan also has been provided by Marine Corps F/A-18D Hornet strike fighters assigned to Marine All-Weather Fighter-Attack Squadron 121 staged to Kyrgyzstan (the fighters are equipped with the Advanced Tactical Air Reconnaissance System), and by KC-130 Hercules tanker/ transport aircraft deployed to the region. Reconnaissance support throughout the region also has been provided by land-based P-3C and EP-3E aircraft.

The Marine Corps has revealed that some of its F/A-18C/D Hornets have been deployed to Guam since September to provide air defense for Guam and the Marianas.

A German Navy rear admiral has assumed command of the multinational coalition task force of 10 destroyers and frigates operating in the Arabian Sea off Somalia, according to Jane's Defence Weekly.

The SS Cornhusker State--the only MARAD (Maritime Administration) Ready Reserve Force ship activated specifically to support Operation Enduring Freedom--has returned to Newport News, Va., after six months of deployed operations.

Sea-service reservists mobilized for active duty as of 12 June included 8,971 Navy, 4,123 Marine Corps, and 1,544 Coast Guard reservists.

Sea Service Notes

The U.S. Navy is investigating the cause of the fire and flooding on board the USS Dolphin (AGSS 555), the service's only diesel-electric submarine. The incident on the Dolphin--a deep-diving submarine used for research and development--occurred on 21 May during operations 100 miles off San Diego, Calif. The submarine's 43-man crew evacuated the boat. Two were recovered from the water by a Coast Guard helicopter; the others were taken on board the M/V McGaw. The Dolphin was towed back to Naval Submarine Base Point Loma, Calif.

The former naval air station on the Aleutian island of Adak--an important maritime patrol aviation base during the Cold War--is being turned over to the Aleut Corporation, which is based in Anchorage, Alaska. The island base--closed in 1997 and now going through an environmental cleanup--is attracting increasing interest from the fishing industry. One fish-processing plant is now in operation on the island, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

The famously named Samuel Eliot Morison has become the seventh Perry-class guided-missile frigate to be transferred to the Turkish Navy. The ship, renamed the TCG Gokova, was recommissioned during ceremonies at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.

Several decommissioned Navy surface ships are continuing to serve their country, but at a lower level. The 510-foot dock landing ship Spiegel Grove, sunk off the Florida Keys in May, is believed to be the largest ship ever sunk to serve as an artificial reef. The 598-foot Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship Okinawa--towed from Bremerton, Wash., two weeks later--also was to be sunk to form a reef (in an undisclosed location). Finally, the former Charles F. Adams-class guided-missile destroyers Henry B. Wilson and Towers are being readied at Mare Island, Calif., for eventual sinking as targets. *