Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey

2007 MODERN AIRCRAFT

• 1 History of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey
• 2 Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey Specification
  • 2.1 Basic
  • 2.2 Production
  • 2.3 Roles
  • 2.4 Dimensions

History of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey

In 1981, the U.S. Department of Defense established the Joint Services Vertical Takeoff/Landing Test (JVX) program to ensure that an aircraft with vertical takeoff and horizontal flight capabilities exceeds conventional capabilities. The initiative is linked to the failed rescue of the 1980 Iranian hostage crisis (Operation Eagle Claw), which left eight U.S. soldiers dead and debris littered the Iranian desert. So the U.S. military is trying to right the wrongs of the past and procure a multi-faceted aircraft design suitable for short-field operations and delivering superior transport capabilities for that class.

The United States remained locked in a war of words and a technological Cold War with the Soviet Union that lasted until 1991. As a result, defense spending is fairly open to massive new technologies to give Americans the upper hand in future wars. While the U.S. Army initially dominated the requirements of the JVX program, the vehicle will eventually stock U.S. Marine Corps and U.S.

Air Force inventories.

From the outset, several companies, including foreign players, have expressed interest in the JVX program. However, it will be a joint development venture between Bell Helicopter and Boeing Vertol that will bring JVX to fruition. Bell Helicopter Textron had previously developed the XV-15 tilt-rotor technology demonstrator, which first flew on May 3, 1977, justifying the VTOL-to-level flight concept. The design allows for takeoff in the same manner as a traditional helicopter, while its tilt-rotor feature allows the rotors to be lowered in a "pull-rod" arrangement, propelling the aircraft into the sky as a traditional fixed-wing type. The advantages of this configuration are primarily speed and range.

NASA built and tested two XV-15A prototypes. The Bell Boeing template is actually an enlarged form of the successful XV-15 series prototype. Applications submitted were officially accepted and six airworthy prototypes were ordered (later reduced to five).

On January 15, 1985, the U.S. Department of Defense officially designated the JVX program product the codename "V-22" and the nickname "Osprey". The first V-22 prototype was introduced in May 1988. However, due to rising costs and short-term commitments elsewhere, the U.S. Army withdrew from the program later that year, leaving the U.S.

Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force as major players in 1983. The program then suffered the necessary "political hell" with several steps that nearly brought the project to a halt (the program was almost completely halted in 1992).

However, sufficient evidence of the viability and capability of the V-22 was provided to allow the program to continue during the transition period. The first horizontal flight of the MV-22 (the USMC V-22 designation) was recorded on March 19, 1989, followed by a vertical flight on September 14 of the same year.

Sea trials took place on the deck of the USS Wasp in December 1990.

Despite progress, the V-22 program lost its fourth and fifth prototypes in an accident. This forced Bell Boeing to go back to engineering to refine the original V-22 design. The delay lasted from 1992 to 1993, when the revised airframe appeared as the "V-22B" (resulting in the original V-22 being renamed the "V-22A"). The V-22B was subsequently used in countless other tests.

An evaluation prototype was sent to the Naval Air Combat Test Center in Maryland in 1997.

The V-22 faced two other accidents in April 2000 and December 2000, resulting in the deaths of 19 Marines (30 deaths in total will be attributed to the development of the V-22). The high-profile incident postponed the formal evaluation period until June 2005, while additional safety measures were implemented by improving the hydraulic system and updating the system software. By then, the program's development cost had grown from an initial $2 to $27 billion. 5 billion forecast. Full series production was approved on September 28, 2005, after which the V-22 entered service with the U.S.

Army on June 13, 2007. Its primary users are the U.S. Marine Corps, followed by the U.S. Air Force. At its launch, the V-22 was the world's first operable tilt-rotor design, anywhere in the world - another "first" for American aviation.

Some 458 V-22s have been ordered (552 initially mentioned), of which 360 are expected to enter service with the US Marine Corps (MV-22B), 50 are dedicated to the US Air Force (CV-22), and The US Navy can receive up to 48 examples (HV-22). The U.S. Navy maintains the replacement of its long-serving Grumman C-2 Greyhound carrier-based aircraft with the Navy-type HV-22 Osprey in the carrier-based delivery (COB) role. Assessments began in October 2012.

The HV-22 will use a special wing mounting system, with the entire unit rotating to sit on the barrel length of the fuselage. In addition, the two rotor blades on each nacelle will be folded together by hinges. In this form, the vehicle becomes more compact for an aircraft carrier in space. Interestingly, the US Navy originally released the HV-22 search and rescue variant in 2001, opting for the MH-60S series. The USAF game has access to long-range fuel tanks, and terrain-tracking radars can be installed for special forces use.

All production V-22s are scheduled to receive avionics upgrades provided by Raytheon over the next several years as part of the designated "C-block" program. Some USMC mounts are already equipped with these upgrades, which are expected to improve performance and improve situational awareness.

On the surface, there are no Osprey-like aircraft in the modern sky. The cockpit consists of a side-by-side seating arrangement and a frame-mounted windshield that provides overhead, side and front views of what's going on behind a short, sloping nose cone. The passenger/cargo compartment is located directly aft of the cockpit, with access doors on either side of the forward fuselage.

The bottom of the fuselage has a pronounced arc, while the straight wing attachment is located on the roof amidships. Each wing root manages a positionable engine nacelle that can be tilted up (takeoff, landing and hover) or horizontally to power forward flight as needed. Each engine drives a large three-blade composite rotor assembly. The wing root is fitted with a cross-shaft system that allows both propellers to be powered by one engine in the event of an emergency power failure.

The rear wing of the vehicle is raised to allow access to the power loading ramp at the rear. The tail is limited by a dual vertical tail arrangement and a large horizontal tail plane. The landing gear is fully retractable and consists of a pair of twin-wheel main legs and a twin-wheel front leg.

The standard operator of the V-22 consists of four people, including two pilots and two flight engineers. It can carry up to 24 seated ("crash-proof" seats) passengers or 32 standing infantry. Instead of personnel, the aircraft can carry up to 20,000 pounds of internal cargo or 15,000 pounds of external cargo (eg, a suspended M777 howitzer).

A single four-wheeled vehicle of the JEEP (USMC "Growler" ITV) type can also be transported inside the hull.

The MV-22B (USMC) is powered by two Rolls-Royce Allison T406/AE 1107C Liberty turboshaft engines, each rated at 6,150 hp. Each engine is housed in a streamlined nacelle at the end of the wing assembly. Advertised top speed is 316 mph and cruising speed is 277 mph. The range is 1,000 miles and the ferry range is 2,230 miles. The rate of climb is approximately 2,300 to 4,000 feet per second.

The refueling probe is mounted on the right front of the nose to provide in-flight refueling capability so that the operating range can be extended if desired.

As you might expect, the Osprey cockpit is a powerful all-digital "glass" unit with two Multi-Function Displays (MFDs) located on the front dash at each pilot station. Control is via a central joystick (located between the knees) and a side-mounted throttle grip (on the outside of each seat).

The third MFD is located in the center console, where numerous buttons control various missions and flight systems. In-flight autopilot is standard, along with FLIR, ILS, GPS, INS, VOR and TACAN systems.

Flight control is aided by fly-by-wire software incorporating responsive computer data processing. The stock multi-mission radar extends from the left front nose cone with the pilot's chin-mounted night vision system.

Although the Osprey itself is not armed as a basic transport role, it has a machine gun (7.62mm M240 GPMG or 12.7mm M2 Browning HMG) mounted on a flexible mount on the rear loading ramp. This requires the loading door to remain open when firing, but provides a massive firefield and attack on passing ground targets.

A triple-barreled 12.7mm GAU-19 Gatling cannon was proposed for the V-22's ventral mount (remotely controlled by the gunner in the fuselage). The Osprey so equipped was evaluated in 2009 in combat conditions in Afghanistan and found to be flawed, although the weapon configuration may resurface in future V-22 developments.

For the USMC, the MV-22 was selected as a direct replacement for their long-serving Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight tandem rotor transport helicopter (in service since 1964). The first MV-22 squadron was launched on March 3, 2006 (as VMM-263).

The designation "MV-22C" refers to the updated software MV-22s. The replacement of the CH-46 was in progress (2012) and was several years before the mount was officially retired from USMC service and completely replaced by the MV-22.

The MV-22 has been in combat duty since September 2007 with US involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. Overall, operational service is reported to be good given the technical scope of these aircraft.

Notably, no one was killed by enemy ground fire (including shoulder-launched missiles), and all Osprey-related missions were successful, citing qualities such as speed and range. Several issues have been identified, mostly related to the ship's native capabilities and the pilot's situational awareness, although this is becoming a natural part of the overall "germination" process of new technologies.

Therefore, the overall reliability rate is rated as low (about 60%), while the accident rate itself remains relatively low (6 fatalities were recorded during official operation). To date, the V-22 has been used for cargo transport, infantry transport, artillery transport, search and rescue missions, and has also been involved in humanitarian relief efforts where conventional vehicles would not dare.

The USAF V-22 was designated "CV-22B", first received on March 20, 2006. The CV-22 has since been used for humanitarian assistance, with at least six deployed in the Iraqi theater.

The U.S. Marine Corps remains the largest V-22 operator in the world by volume, followed by the U.S. Air Force. In 2012, the U.S. Marine Corps had 97 MV-22s, while the U.S. Air Force had 13 CV-22s, the latter dedicated to special operations. VMMT-204 is a dedicated training squadron for U.S. Marine Corps pilots.

Bell Boeing has proposed other variants of the V-22 baseline, including the EV-22 as an airborne early warning and control (AEWC) platform. The Royal Navy showed some interest of this nature, but never acted. The SV-22 is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) version proposed for the U.S.

Navy with specialized instrumentation, equipment, and presumed diving sonar capabilities.

To date (2012), 160 Ospreys have been produced at a cost of approximately $70 million per system. While there are currently no foreign operators of the V-22, there are potential interest from several foreign parties (Canada and the United Arab Emirates were mentioned). If the U.S.

Army can find a replacement for its aging UH-60 Black Hawk line in time, it could still re-enter the V-22 arena.

Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions