| By RICHARD R. BURGESS
The Bell Boeing-built
MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor multimission aircraft has successfully completed a long series of
demanding sea trials off the coast of Virginia. The trials, conducted from the deck of the
Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship USS Saipan, represented yet another milestone
of testing in the EMD (engineering and manufacturing development) phase of the Osprey
program.
Osprey No. 10, the fourth
MV-22B EMD aircraft, landed on the Saipan on 19 January to begin more than three
weeks of trials, which had two primary objectives. The first, to stress the aircraft in
dynamic interface testing, involved validating and expanding the general
launch-and-recovery envelope relative to "winds over the deck" for the
helicopter spots "where the V-22 could land," Navy officials said.
"The envelope
expansion testing is critical because it will evaluate the aircraft's handling qualities
as well as reveal any problems that need correcting to ensure that the average fleet pilot
can safely hover, take off [from], and land [on] any of these spots within the designated
launch-and-recovery envelope," said Lt. Col. John Rudzis, the government's flight
test director for the V-22.
Test plans called for the
MV-22B to land on five of the ship's 10 spots to determine the aircraft's handling
qualities during a variety of conditions, including strong winds or high sea states. Test
pilots also conducted simulated OEI (one engine inoperative) vertical landings, vertical
takeoffs, and short takeoffs.
The demonstration of
aircraft/shipboard compatibility was the second primary objective of the sea trials. That
testing included parking, positioning, and stowing the aircraft on the elevators and
hangar deck as well as the launch-and-recovery spots. The ability of an Osprey to be
lowered, with wings folded, on an elevator to the ship's hangar deck was evaluated, as was
the ease with which the aircraft's rotors and wings could be stowed after landing and the
aircraft moved to its parking spot.
Also evaluated was the
ability to maintain the Osprey in a shipboard environment. Marines assigned to the V-22
MOTT (Multiservice Operational Test Team) have been, with the assistance of contractor
personnel, recording, validating, and assessing all maintenance work, including the
effectiveness of procedures, manuals, tools, and support equipment. The corrosive effects
of salt air on the aircraft also were evaluated.
Early Termination For
Software Adjustments
The MV-22B completed 75
percent of all scheduled flight operations during the trials, including nearly 350
landings, as well as all required maintenance and nonflying tasks. The sea trials were
terminated five flight days early, Navy officials said, when data revealed that software
adjustments to the aircraft's automatic flight control system were needed "to refine
performance under certain wind conditions." Design engineers have tentatively
identified the improvements needed and will test them in simulators before introducing
them into the aircraft, the officials said.
"We achieved quite a
bit during sea trials and are on track to start formal Operational Evaluation [OPEVAL] on
time this fall," said Col. Nolan Schmidt, the government's V-22 program manager.
"Sea trials are meant to identify issues like these early in order to minimize risk
during OPEVAL and to ensure the system is working as it should."
The Saipan sea
trials were not the first for the Osprey. The FSD (full-scale development) V-22A aircraft,
no longer in service, went through sea trials on board the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp
in December 1990.
The MV-22B is scheduled
to return to sea in August 1999 to complete tests to further define the aircraft's
operating envelope and validate the landing data accumulated by then. The Osprey's OPEVAL
is scheduled to begin in October 1999. As of 29 January, the four EMD MV-22Bs had
accumulated a total of more than 1,000 flight hours, bringing to more than 2,200 hours the
total flown by the entire V-22 development fleet.
In a related development,
the Air Force version of the Osprey--the CV-22B, which will be operated by the Air Force
Special Operations Command--successfully completed its Executive Critical Design Review,
the final milestone in a series of 12 design reviews. The CV-22B will feature additional
fuel tanks in the wing, a multimode radar (for terrain following and avoidance),
radar-jamming equipment, a refueling probe, a third cockpit seat (for a flight engineer),
and increased capacity for chaff and flares.
Footnote: Modification to
a CV-22B configuration of Osprey No. 7, an EMD MV-22B, will start next month and will be
completed by October 1999. Osprey No. 9, also an EMD MV-22B, will be remanufactured into a
production-representative CV-22B by May 2000. Full funding for the first four CV-22Bs is
expected to be included in the fiscal year 2001 budget. The CV-22B is scheduled to reach
IOC (initial operational capability) by 2003.
Northrop Grumman
Delivers Upgraded Block 89 EA-6Bs
The first of 20 EA-6B
Prowler electronic attack aircraft to be upgraded by Northrop Grumman has been delivered
to the Navy at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. The initial aircraft, refurbished
with a new wing center-section and improved safety features, was upgraded to the Block 89
configuration from the Block 82 version.
Northrop Grumman's plant
in St. Augustine, Fla., is upgrading 12 Prowlers--one per month--to the Block 89
configuration; this work will be followed by modifying eight others to the Block 89A
version, which will be fitted with AYK-14 mission computers, ARC-210 jam-resistant radios,
and GPS/INS (global positioning system/inertial navigation system) units.
The Navy considers
delivery of all 20 aircraft to be critical to relieving the fleetwide shortage of EA-6Bs,
which has been exacerbated by a high tempo of operations in support of U.S. military
commitments over Iraq and the former Yugoslavia, as well as the requirement for four more
Prowler squadrons that was created when the Navy assumed joint-service tactical electronic
warfare responsibility several years ago from the Air Force EF-111A "Sparkvaark"
aircraft.
Northrop Grumman's
Integrated Systems and Aerostructures Sector in Dallas, Texas, is under contract to
eventually upgrade the entire EA-6B fleet to the ICAP III (Improved Capability III)
configuration. The contract, awarded in 1998, has a potential value of $150 million. The
upgrade will include installation of a reactive jamming system as well as new tactical
displays, controls, and the associated software needed to counter advanced threat radars.
Initial operational capability for the ICAP III Prowler is 2004.
Defense Industry
Notes
Lockheed Martin
Government Electronics Systems has been awarded Navy contracts valued at more than
$283 million to provide three Aegis combat systems and three Mk41 vertical launching
systems (VLSs), as well as quad-pack launchers for the Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles (ESSMs)
to be installed in the Mk41 systems.
Northrop Grumman
Marine Systems has been awarded a $62.8 million Navy contract to upgrade the
Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine USS Nevada with launch
tubes capable of firing the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile. The Nevada
will follow her sister ship, the USS Alaska, as the second of four Trident I-armed
boats to be retrofitted with the Trident II missile.
Lockheed Martin
Systems Support & Training Services has been awarded an $89 million five-year Navy
contract to operate and maintain systems, equipment, and facilities at the Tactical
Training Ranges in Fallon, Nev., and Yuma, Ariz. The company will operate electronic
warfare ranges, electronic combat threats, jammers, communications equipment, and optical
equipment, and will assist in the development of tactics for Navy and Marine Corps crews
using the ranges.
Newport News
Shipbuilding has been awarded $60 million from a Navy contract option for engineering
work on CVN 77, the next Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The work
performed under the option--which raises the total contract value to $106
million--includes research and development tasks on new and modified shipboard systems and
technologies.
The Naval Postgraduate
School in Monterey, Calif., has placed in operation an ATM-to-Ethernet multimedia
network standardized on 3Com systems. The $5 million administrative network
provides rapid access to online data, e-mail, an intranet, and financial and student
records, and gives the school the ability to videostream classroom lectures to students'
personal computers. Eventually, the network will include video-teleconferencing and
distance-learning capabilities.
GTE Government Systems
has been awarded a $77.2 million Marine Corps Systems Command contract for a tactical
data network that will augment the existing Marine Air-Ground Task Force
(MAGTF) communication infrastructure. The integrated network will form the
"backbone" of the MAGTF's tactical data systems and defense message system.
Lockheed Martin
Tactical Defense Systems has been awarded a $160 million Naval Sea Systems Command contract
to produce UYQ-70(V) advanced display system equipment to support Aegis, advanced
combat direction, and associated support services.
Techmatics of
Fairfax, Va., has been awarded a $63 million Naval Sea Systems Command contract to
provide professional, technical, and management services for the Navy Theater
Ballistic-Missile Defense program offices in Arlington, Va.
Lockheed Martin
Electronics & Missiles has been awarded a $53 million contract modification to
build an additional 26 LANTIRN targeting pods for the Navy's F-14 strike fighters,
bringing to 86 the number of LANTIRN pods ordered by the Navy.
Sikorsky Aircraft
Corporation has been awarded an $11 million Navy contract to carry out a mine
countermeasures demonstration by the company's CH-60S helicopter. |
