US Military’s V-22 Osprey Fleet to Resume Full Operations by Mid-2025

 

The U.S. military's fleet of over 400 V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft is not expected to return to full flight operations until at least mid-2025, as stated by a Navy admiral during a House Oversight subcommittee meeting. Vice Adm. Carl Chebi, head of Naval Air Systems Command, which oversees Ospreys for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, mentioned that a review assessing manning, training, and equipment adequacy will continue for another six to nine months. He assured lawmakers that findings from this comprehensive review will guide actions to ensure safe flight operations.

The Osprey fleet began a gradual return to service with flight restrictions in early March, three months after being grounded due to a fatal Air Force CV-22 crash off Japan's coast. This crash, which killed all eight airmen on board, led to a suspension of operations in early December.

The V-22 Osprey's unique capability to operate both as an airplane and a helicopter makes it ideal for aircraft carrier landings and special operations in challenging environments. The Marine Corps operates the majority of these aircraft, with the Air Force and Navy having around 50 and 30, respectively. Some Marine Ospreys have already resumed activity; for instance, ten aircraft from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 were sent to Hawaii for a training exercise in Australia, and others are being used in Sweden for Exercise Baltic Operations.

Despite the partial resumption, the Navy's CMV-22 fleet remains grounded for carrier support missions. Current restrictions prevent Ospreys from flying more than 30 minutes from a potential emergency landing site. Meanwhile, crews at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico are preparing to restore their operational capabilities, and other squadrons are also nearing readiness.

An investigation into the Air Force's CV-22 crash on November 29 is almost complete, with family briefings expected soon. The crash was attributed to a material failure previously unseen in the Osprey fleet.

Since their introduction over two decades ago, Ospreys have experienced several fatal accidents, including four incidents since March 2022, resulting in 20 service members' deaths. These issues led to fleet-wide groundings in 2022 and 2023 due to premature wear in the input quill assembly, which connects the engine to the proprotor gearbox.

Vice Adm. Chebi and Gary Kurtz, the program executive officer for anti-submarine, assault, and special mission programs, informed lawmakers that testing for a redesigned clutch is imminent. They anticipate the new clutch will be fielded by mid-2025.

Aurora Advances to Next Design Phase for DARPA's High-Speed Vertical Takeoff X-Plane

 

Aurora Flight Sciences has completed the conceptual design phase of an innovative vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft for the Pentagon's SPRINT program and is now entering the preliminary design stage.

The SPRINT (Speed and Runway Independent Technologies) program aims to develop a vertical takeoff aircraft, also referred to as the X-plane, capable of achieving speeds between 400 and 450 knots. This is significantly faster than the V-22 Osprey, which has a maximum speed of 270 knots. The aircraft must be able to hover stably, transition seamlessly from hovering to forward flight, and feature a distributed energy system that powers all propulsion technology during these transitions.

DARPA has given companies the flexibility to design the aircraft as crewed, uncrewed, or autonomous. In November 2023, DARPA awarded six-month contracts to four companies—Aurora (a Boeing subsidiary), Bell Textron, Northrop Grumman, and Piasecki Aircraft Corp.—to begin their conceptual designs.

On April 30, Aurora received a $25 million contract modification to continue developing its version of the SPRINT aircraft. This significant funding boost follows an initial $4.2 million allocation. Currently, Aurora is the only company to receive further funding to advance in the SPRINT program, but more awards may follow. DARPA plans to eliminate at least one company from the competition after the conceptual design phase.

Aurora’s blended-wing design incorporates three embedded lift fans for vertical flight, transitioning to embedded engines for forward flight. This design reduces drag and allows high-speed travel, making it ideal for air mobility and special operations missions. New concept art from Aurora shows an uncrewed aircraft with a composite exterior capable of cruising at 450 knots. The design is adaptable, with the potential to add more lift fans or create a crewed version if military requirements change.

Aurora aims to complete the preliminary design review within a year and conduct the first flight in three years. Bell Textron, another competitor, is pursuing a tiltrotor design similar to the Osprey.

In addition to the SPRINT project, DARPA awarded Aurora an $8.3 million contract modification to continue developing an experimental heavy cargo seaplane, the Liberty Lifter.

USMC F-35B Training Likely To Begin in Aug. 2012

The U.S. Marine Corps could start training new students to fly its F-35B short take-off vertical (STOVL) landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in August 2012, a senior Defense Department official said.

The DoD has opted to use an approach based on reducing risks prior to starting training operations at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Fla., current and former officials said. As such the Pentagon has not set a specific date to issue a military flight release. Instead, the start of training will be "event driven."

Currently "[The U.S. Air Force and Department of the Navy] are waiting for aircraft flight clearance for test pilot maturation flights," a senior DoD official said. Further, "both services are still trying to determine how many maturation hours are needed by test pilots before instructor pilots and then students can be trained."

But if everything goes as currently planned, the Marine Corps students will probably start flying their version of the Lightning II around August 2012.

"Looks like training for STOVL students may go around August of this coming year," the official said. "Once student training starts, it will include all modes including STOVL."

Originally, the STOVL training was projected to start around April 2012. Air Force pilots will likely start training in the F-35A conventional-takeoff version months before the Marines, as previously planned.

But before Marines or any other students take to the air, the F-35 will have to undertake initial maturation flights, using the jet's conventional takeoff and landing mode in the case of the STOVL aircraft. Once clearance is received, the F-35B will fly using all of its modes.

"Nobody wants to go too fast, but on the other hand nobody wants to go too slow," said former Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation, retired Lt. Gen. George Trautman. "At the end of the day it's going to be informed subjectivity where the leadership decides what sorties need to be flown in the maturation phase. I trust their collective judgment."

Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Emerson Gardner, a former aviator and deputy director of the Pentagon's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) office, agreed.

"This is a validation of the Marine Corps' event-driven process to achieving initial operating capability," he said. "Instead of identifying specific dates for levels of capability, they have identified which capabilities/levels of proficiency need to be demonstrated before moving to the next level and developed a stair step process to achieving it."

Trautman said that there is an ongoing debate about how many maturation hours the F-35 needs before operational pilots should start flying it.

"I'm actually hoping it doesn't take till August," he said. "There has been a dialogue going on about how many maturation hours are required."

The debate, which is taking place between engineers and other official at Naval Air Systems Command and the Air Force's Aeronautical System Center, stems from the fact the aircraft at Eglin are operational planes flown by fleet pilots, not instrumented like test aircraft at Edwards AFB, Calif., or Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md., Trautman said.

But when it happens, the start of training operations will be an important milestone for the F-35 program.

"Whenever it occurs, absolutely it's a huge deal," Trautman said. "We want to start flying the airplane, we want to start getting the training cadre, the instructor cadre, up to speed so we can start getting students through there."

The sooner the maturation requirements can be met, the sooner the Marines can get pilots through the training pipeline, he said. Getting a base of trained pilots would then allow the Marines to move on to spooling up the first operational F-35B squadron at the Marines' base in Yuma, Az.

"It's been slower in the past year than we would have hoped, but there is lots of indication that the pace is going to pick-up. As it picks up, and things continue to go well for the program, that's the path that they're on, to stand-up that first squadron in Yuma," Trautman said. "It's just the normal evolution of things and it's good to know we're moving in that direction."

Gardner agreed.

"The Corps has begun the transition of all of its aviation inventory over the past decade, from MV-22s to UH-1Ys to AH-1Zs and now to the F-35B. Based on that history, they have learned to be event-driven and not calendar driven," he said. "The fact that they are continuing to move down this path confirms their confidence in the capability and should hearten supporters of the program."

UAE Also Eyeing Typhoon in Combat Aircraft Competition

DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has asked Britain to bid the Eurofighter Typhoon for its combat aircraft fleet competition, a British government spokesman said, dealing a blow to French efforts to sell the Rafale to the Gulf state.
"We have received the request for proposal for the Eurofighter Typhoon," an official from the U.K. Defense & Security Organization said Nov. 13 on the opening day of the Dubai Airshow. "We're working on it."

No figures were immediately available for the British bid.
The U.K. Minister for International Security Strategy, Gerald Howarth, was attending the exhibition as part of London's official support to place the Eurofighter in the UAE.
The British Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Stephen Dalton, was also in Dubai, flying the flag for the Royal Air Force, which flew two Eurofighters to the show. A Eurofighter was scheduled to fly in the daily display, as was the Rafale.
Dassault Aviation declined comment.
French Air Force officers heard of the Eurofighter news on Nov. 11, through a London embassy attaché.
The UAE has been in talks with France since 2008 on a sale of 60 upgraded Rafales, but the negotiations suffered political upsets along the way and Gulf officials saw the initial $10 billion tag as excessive.
On the Rafale talks, French defense minister Gérard Longuet told journalists here "the final stage has been well engaged and a flick of the eyebrows could mean hundreds of millions of euros either way."
Each side was defending its interests, but the talks were essentially between the Rafale commercial team and the UAE, he said.
The UAE's request for a Eurofighter bid was a case of "livening up the procedure," Longuet said, adding he still expected the UAE would order the Rafale in December when the Gulf state celebrated its 40th anniversary of founding.
An important price element was the Rafale's multirole capability, which meant the same crew could perform air combat, reconnaissance and close air support missions, Longuet said. For a country with a small population, that was a big saving in crew costs.
On the UAE's Mirage 2000-9 fleet, any decision in an "innovative solution" was a decision at the state level as part of a strategic relationship, above that of the ministry or manufacturer, he said.
Some Mirage 2000-9 units were aging, others were more recent, he said.
In the official opening of the show, UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad Bin Rashid Al-Makhtum made the briefest of visits at the Rafale stand in his tour of the exhibition.
Lockheed Martin has been in talks with the UAE on F-16 upgrades, mainly communications, to allow the U.S.-built fighters to talk to the F-35, F-16 business development executive William Henry said here.
In an upgrade that took units out of service, Lockheed offered sales of new F-16s to allow operators to maintain force levels, he said.
Lockheed also has talked to the UAE about sales of the F-35, Henry said.
"As air forces look to the future, the F-35 is going to be a key element of their force planning," he said.
Lockheed sees potential sales of 50 to 100 F-16s around the world, Henry said. On top of 18 F-16s ordered by Iraq, 52 units are on the backlog.
Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Naser Al Alawi, deputy commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defense, told an air chiefs conference Nov. 12 that, in a new generation combat aircraft, the air force was looking for network capability, open architecture and interoperability.
A future weapon system would be versatile, multirole, and capable of handing modular sensors and payloads, Al Alawi said.
Other elements of the future aircraft would include upgradeable and expandable hardware and software, and the plane would be fast, agile and easily serviceable, he said.
The systems should also draw on dual use military-civil technology and offer versatility.
MBDA Chief Executive Antoine Bouvier said the European missile company has not received a request from Eurofighter or the UAE to work on an offer of weapons for the Typhoon.
The UAE Air Force flew its F-16 and Mirage 2000-9 fighters in the NATO-led coalition operation over Libya. Qatar also flew alongside with French missions.
That deployment yielded many "firsts," including the UAE's first time flying as a non-NATO member in a coalition air campaign, Al Alawi said.
Among the lessons learned from Libya were the need for integration of non-NATO elements into the alliance procedures, need for a well thought out communications plan among partner nations and the importance of exchange liaison officers, Al Alawi said.
The UAE is still in talks with the French government and industry for the Rafale, a Gulf source said.
UAE foreign minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan recently held a first meeting with his counterpart Alain Juppé, who has been tasked by president Nicolas Sarokzy to lead the export drive for the Rafale.
The request for a Eurofighter bid is the latest setback for France's Rafale foreign sale campaign. UAE officials asked Lockheed for information on the F-16s, on which the Gulf state has invested in co-development on its Block 60 version.
The U.S government was also out in force at the show, displaying the V22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft for the first time here, as well the F-15, F-16 and F-18 fighters. The Apache attack helicopter was also at the show.
Bilateral ties between France and the UAE were back to normal after a hitting a low patch last year, when the Gulf state viewed the Paris government as ignoring its concerns.

U.S. Navy Ship Set for Alt Fuel Demo

Having powered jet fighters, helicopters and small craft with alternative fuels, the U.S. Navy will conduct its largest-yet demonstration next week when a former destroyer takes to sea with a mixture of algal oil and diesel fuel.

The former destroyer Paul F. Foster will be the largest ship yet to operate with so-called alternative fuels. (U.S. Navy)

The Paul F. Foster, a Spruance-class destroyer now used for experimental purposes, will sail from Point Loma in San Diego to her base at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, Calif., powered by a 50-50 blend of hydro-processed algal oil and F-76 petroleum, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) said Nov. 10.

The alt fuel will power one of the ship's LM2500 gas turbines used for propulsion, and the ship's service gas turbine.
The short, overnight transit is part of a commitment by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to demonstrate a Green Strike Group in 2012 and deploy a strike group composed completely of alternatively powered ships, "the Great Green Fleet," by 2016, NAVSEA said in a press release.
In October, the Navy demonstrated the algal oil-F-76 fuel aboard a landing craft utility at Little Creek, Va., where a riverine combat craft also operated with the fuel mix. Yard Patrol training vessels at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., have also used the alt fuel.
Several different aircraft types have flown with alternative fuels, including F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-15 Eagle jet fighters, a T-45C Goshawk training jet, an EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, an MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter and an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter.
Another alt fuel test of a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) vehicle is to take place in December at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, Fla.

Toxins Grounded F-22s: Sources

The U.S. Air Force's fleet of F-22 Raptor fighters has been grounded since May 3 due to toxins entering the cockpit via the aircraft's life support systems, sources with extensive F-22 experience said.

Service leaders grounded the stealthy twin-engine fighter after pilots suffered "hypoxialike symptoms" on 14 occasions. The incidents affected Raptor pilots at six of seven F-22 bases; the exception is Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

But despite an investigation that has spanned nearly three months, no one yet knows what toxin or combinations of toxins might have caused the incidents, nor is it clear exactly how the chemicals are entering the pilots' air supply, sources said.

Toxins found in pilots' blood include oil fumes, residue from burned polyalphaolefin (PAO) anti-freeze, and, in one case, propane. Carbon monoxide, which leaves the blood quickly, is also suspected.

"There is a lot of nasty stuff getting pumped into the pilots' bloodstream through what they're breathing from that OBOGS [On-Board Oxygen Generation System]. That's fact," one former F-22 pilot said. "How bad it is, what type it is, exactly how much of it, how long - all these things have not been answered."

The blood tests were performed after each of the 14 incidents in which pilots reported various cognitive dysfunctions and other symptoms of hypoxia. One couldn't remember how to change radio frequencies. Another scraped trees on his final approach to the runway - and later could not recall the incident.

"These guys are getting tested for toxins and they've [gotten] toxins out of their bloodstreams," the source said. "One of the guys was expelling propane."

This source, along with the others, requested anonymity for fear of retribution.

The line of inquiry may shed new light on the death of Capt. Jeff "Bong" Haney, a 525th Fighter Squadron pilot who was killed when his F-22 crashed last November near Anchorage. Sources said that in Haney's last few radio calls before his jet disappeared, he sounded drunk, a classic sign of hypoxia. Haney was known as a prodigiously skilled aviator who was in line to attend the elite Air Force Weapons School.

Air Force officials have said they have not yet completed the investigation into the crash.

Asked for comment about the possibility that F-22 pilots had been exposed to carbon monoxide, an Air Force spokesman, Maj. Chad Steffey said, "The safety of our aircrews is paramount, and the Air Force continues to carefully study all factors of F-22 flight safety."

Asked about other toxins, Steffey referred questions to the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M., where officials did not repond by press time.

Officials with Lockheed Martin, which builds the aircraft, said they are cooperating with the investigation but cannot comment further.

Carbon Monoxide?

Beside the various toxins found in the pilots' blood, carbon monoxide is another potential cause of the hypoxia incidents.

The gas, one of many generated as exhaust by the plane's jet engines, might be getting into the cockpit, sources said.

Part of the problem, at least for pilots flying from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, where many of the known incidents have occurred, may be the startup procedures used in winter, one source said.

Because of the harsh climate, pilots often start their jet engines inside a hangar before taking off. That could allow exhaust gases to be trapped in the building, sucked back into the engines, and ingested into the bleed air intakes that are located within the engines' compressor sections that supply the OBOGS, sources said. The layout, sources added, is standard for modern jet aircraft.

But another source said that many of the hypoxia incidents have occurred well into flights or even during a day's second mission, long after the plane has left the Elmendorf hangar.

The U.S. Navy had problems with the OBOGS on its F/A-18 Hornet, which sucked carbon monoxide into its oxygen system during carrier operations. Between 2002 and 2009, Hornet aviators suffered 64 reported episodes of hypoxia, including two that killed the pilots, according to the July-August 2010 issue of "Approach," a Navy Safety Center publication.

The Navy modified the planes' OBOGS, has had no recent similar incidents and is not currently investigating the systems, Naval Air Systems Command officials said.

USAF Expands Investigation

In January, a safety investigation board led by Maj. Gen. Steven Hoog began looking into the the OBOGS on the F-16, F-15E and F-35 fighters; the A-10 attack jet and the T-6 trainer, according to May statements by officials with the service's Air Combat Command, which oversees combat aircraft.

In May, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley had ordered the service's Scientific Advisory Board to conduct a "quick-look study, gather and evaluate information, and recommend any needed corrective actions on aircraft using on-board oxygen generation systems," according to a July 21 statement by service officials.

The release indicated that the service is now looking at more types of aircraft: the B-1 and B-2 bombers and the CV-22 tilt-rotor and "other aircraft as appropriate."

According to the release, the investigation is conducting a "series of carefully controlled in-flight tests, the team will examine the subsystems identified in reported incidents. These include the pressurization system, mask and cockpit oxygen levels."

The release said the Scientific Advisory Board investigation followed the grounding of the F-22 fleet, but did not say whether it superseded, replaced or is merely accompanying the Hoog investigation.

One source said that F-22 test pilots at Edwards AFB, Calif., last week started flying sorties as the investigate OBOGS concerns as part of the Air Force safety investigation.

Air Force officials have confirmed only that some test pilots at the base are flying their jets under a special waiver granted to them to test an unrelated software upgrade.

However, the operational fleet remains grounded, with pilots and ground crews practicing in simulators as much as they can. But that is not a real solution because the pilots won't be able to maintain currency, one former F-22 pilot said.

"After 210 days, they've got to start retraining everybody," he said.

It would take weeks for the instructor pilots at Tyndall to re-qualify themselves and then start to train others, the former pilot said. Pilots with lapped currencies would be re-qualifying each other.

It would take four to six weeks afterward to re-qualify the operational squadrons. Service officials confirmed that 12 Raptors are stranded at Hill AFB, Utah, but declined to identify their squadron. The jets came to the desert base for a Combat Hammer exercise in which pilots and ground crews practice loading and releasing live air-to-ground weapons. Service officials said the jets are from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va.

Meanwhile, Lockheed can't deliver new Raptors to the Air Force because the company and the Pentagon's Defense Contract Management Agency are unable to fly required test sorties needed to certify the jets meet specifications. Four aircraft have technically been delivered to the service but can't fly to their new home at Langley AFB.

At least two additional aircraft have been completed but remain at the factory undelivered.

Working Towards Longer Life for Osprey Engines

The U.S. Marine Corps is working with contractor Rolls Royce to increase the durability of the V-22 Osprey's propulsion system, service officials said.

The U.S. Marine Corps wants Rolls Royce to increase the durability of the MV-22 Osprey propulsion system. (Lance Cpl. Santiago G. Colon Jr. / Marine Corps)

The service is working to increase the engines' "time on wing" by 45 percent, said Marine Col. Greg Masiello, who heads the V-22 Joint Program Office at Patuxent River, Md., speaking before reporters during a tour of Boeing's manufacturing facilities in Philadelphia on June 6.

However, that measure varies depending upon where the aircraft is deployed. In benign environments the propulsion system performs better while under harsher conditions it does not. Masiello declined to give specific numbers because the service's figures are an aggregate.
One solution the Marines are working on is a system to prevent dust from entering the engines in the first place, Masiello said. Conventional filters found on normal helicopters could rob critical engine power from the hybrid fix-wing/rotary wing design during normal flight in the cruise configuration.
As such, the V-22 team is looking at the propulsion system as a whole to mitigate any power loss incurred by the addition of dust filters, said Boeing's John Rader, program director for the Bell-Boeing team that builds the aircraft. A number of options are being considered, he added.
Rader said some of these improvements are already flying as a proof of concept on test aircraft.
"We actually have hardware that we have already flown through developmental testing at Pax River," Masiello added.
Those improvements could be fielded to the deployed Marine forces as soon as the end of the calendar year, he said.
The added filters could add 30 percent more "time on wing" to the aircraft's engines, Masiello said.
Additionally, the Marines are making a software change that could potentially increase the time on wing by a further 80 percent. "That will fly this summer, we have a target in August to have that airborne and flying," Masiello said. It will also increase the engines'- and the aircraft's- performance.
It would not be the first time software has been used to improve engine performance on the Osprey. An earlier software upgrade added to the engine's power output. The increased power enables the aircraft to cruise some 20 knots faster, said Lt. Col. Romin Dasmalchi, commander of the MV-22 squadron of that recently flew the pilot rescue mission over Libya in March.
The engine improvements are applicable to the Air Force's CV-22 fleet as well.
The service is also making progress more generally in reducing support costs, Masiello said. Some of those cost reductions come from repairing components that would otherwise have been thrown away, he said.