MV-22 Rates Good Marks, Some Concerns
The MV-22 Osprey has been testing and performing relatively well, according to the most recent report from the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOTE), but the review also notes concerns about mission-capable rates and the need to do operational workarounds in certain scenarios.
“The MV-22 demonstrated effectiveness in a wide range of approved high-altitude scenarios reflecting current Marine Corps operations,” DOTE notes. The MV-22 met or exceeded thresholds for all reliability and maintainability requirements, with the exception of “repair times for aborts,” the report states. But “this shortfall did not materially affect the ability of the aircraft to meet its flying demands.”
The enhanced chaff-and-flare system and software improvements also were effective, the report says.
However, “The aircraft’s ability to operate in high-altitude, unimproved landing zones was limited by the lack of an effective braking system and the inability to perform rolling takeoffs or landings,” the report says. Plus, “The radar altimeter was unstable in cluttered environments and demonstrated limited capability in urban and shipboard environments.”
The mission-capable rate demonstrated during some of the testing period was only 57%—the aircraft’s threshold requirement is 82%—less than another previous testing rate of 78%.
The Marines say they have made improvements and that the aircraft is doing its job, even in combat situations. “The data used in the DOTE report was from 2009 and we have made improvements to readiness rates since that time,” the Marine Corps told Aviation Week. “It is recognized that there are readiness challenges. The program is executing a specific readiness improvement plan to resolve those challenges.”
Manufacturer Bell-Boeing also notes the DOTE data are nearly two years old. “It would be inaccurate to characterize that report as reflecting the current readiness levels of the entire operational fleet,” contractor spokesman Andy Lee says.
Major contributors to the low-mission-capable rate seen during the reviewed test period, DOTE says, included “cracking or prematurely failing hinges/access doors, engine and drive components within the nacelle structure, flight control system failures, wiring, swashplate actuators and constant speed generators.” Additionally, DOTE says, the ice protection system was again demonstrated to be unreliable.
Nonetheless, the aircraft appears to be doing the job the Marines want. During the testing period, the report says, Marines attempted 22 “operational mission vignettes” and successfully completed 20.
The speed and range of the MV-22 were key contributors to overall mission success, the report says. “The testing demonstrated effectiveness in the ability of the aircraft to perform parachute drops of both troops and materiel, personnel and equipment recovery, tactical insertion/extraction of combat Marines, and battlefield circulation/resupply.”
Sometimes, though, the Marines have had to adapt and compensate. “The testing documented several limitations to employment that the program addressed by tactical procedures and operational workarounds,” DOTE reports. “These limitations included: overwater … downwash effects on swimmers, remaining maneuvering restrictions in helicopter mode, limitations on the effectiveness of the forward-looking infrared sensor, radar altimeter instability in cluttered environments, and limits on operations in salt spray environments.”
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force
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