USMC requests Osprey deployment as of early September, GAO questions operational capability
06:05 GMT, June 25, 2009 In a recently published report prepared for a US Congressional hearing on the Future of the V-22, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that the MV-22, the Marine Corps model of the V-22 Osprey, “has not performed the full range of missions anticipated” in Iraq. From October 2007 until April 2009, 12 of the innovative tilt-rotor aircraft built by the team of Boeing and Textron were deployed in Iraq. The GAO now reports that the aircraft suitability challenges, such as unreliable parts and supply chain weaknesses, drove system availability below minimum required levels. The three MV-22 squadrons had low-averaged mission capability rates of 57 to 68 percent, lower than these of the aircraft which the Osprey’s are assigned to replace.
Additionally, the engines on the MV-22s deployed in Iraq fell short of their estimated “on-wing” service life, the report noted, and said “challenges with the MV-22’s ability to operate in threat-environments higher than existed” had been identified.
Regarding deployments on Navy ships, the GAO noted that due to its large size and large inventory of repair parts, the MV-22 created obstacles to shipboard operations.
MV-22 crew chiefs and troop commanders also were critical of the MV-22’s apparent situational awareness limitations which reduces operational effectiveness. Compared to the CH-53 and CH-46, the Osprey has only two small windows, restricting visibility of activity on the ground. The recent upgrade programme, which incorporates electronic situational awareness devices, may not fully address the visibility problems, the report said.
Other problems may arise when the aircraft is deployed in Afghanistan. The GAO reported that the MV-22 has restrictions that will limit operational capabilities as the aircraft cannot endure the tough environments, as well as high altitudes, found in Afghanistan. Also, icing conditions there could be a problem since the Ice Protection System (IPS) has experienced numerous operational flaws in the past.
Rising costs
Adding to the problems outlined by the GAO, the Osprey programme costs have risen sharply above initial projections. In 1996, the plan was to build nearly 1,000 units within 10 years at a cost of $37.7 million each. Now, the plan is for fewer than 500 units at $93.4 million per piece – a procurement unit cost jump of 148 per cent, the GAO stated. Further, research, development, testing, and evaluation costs have increased over 200 percent. To complete the procurement, the programme plans to request approximately $25 billion. Per flight-hour of the MV-22s costs $11,000, twice the price of a CH-46.
Halting V-22 production?
The study recommended that Defense Secretary Robert Gates look to possible alternatives to the V-22 in order to meet the Marine Corps’ current and future airlift needs and possible use by other services. After receiving the report at a hearing, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Edolphus “Ed” Towns, called for halting V-22 production. “What we have heard today convinces me that the dream of a viable high-speed, long-range, tilt-rotor aircraft has not been realized,” he said in a closed statement.
Towns summed up the hearing by saying that the Osprey “has problems in hot weather, it has problems in cold weather, it has problems with sand, it has problems with high altitude, and it has restricted manoeuvrability.”“It’s time to put the Osprey out of its misery,” he concluded. After having survived the first round of Washington’s budget cutting earlier this year, the Osprey could become one of next year’s budget cut victims.
Crucial Necessity for Afghanistan?
During a tense debate, Marine Corp officials disagreed with the report and continued to praise the performance of the tilt-rotor aircraft in Iraq. During the hearing, the Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Aviation, Lieutenant General George J. Trautman, defended the V-22 operational performance while acknowledging that parts’ reliability must be improved. The USMC wants to deploy some MV-22S to Afghanistan by September of this year. These aircraft will be fitted with a new belly-mounted gun built by BAE Systems. The MV-22 will be a “crucial, critical necessity” in Afghanistan, General Trautman said.
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June 25, 2009 at 10:55 am