More Trouble for V-22

The V-22 Osprey underwent its first flight test in 1989. Nearly two decades later, the Marine Corps has announced plans to deploy a squadron of 12 V-22s to Iraq sometime after June of this year. The V-22 has had a troubled history. Its development has been a top priority for the Marine Corps since the mid-80’s, but four accidents, one in 1991, another in 1992, and two more in 2000, resulted in the deaths of 30 servicemen and led to significant setbacks for the program. Though the first three crashes could be attributed to defects in the manufacturing process, the fourth incident was the result of an aerodynamic phenomenon known as vortex ring state (VRS). According to a report released last week by the Center for Defense Information, VRS “occurs when a rotor becomes enmeshed in its own downwash and loses lift–with thrust from the remaining rotor often rolling the aircraft into an uncontrollable, inverted dive.” The Osprey would offer the Marine Corps, which has plans to buy as many as 360 of the aircraft, a replacement for its aging fleet of helicopters and a significantly more capable aircraft at that. The Air Force and Navy would buy the tilt-rotor aircraft as well, with plans to purchase 50 and 48 respectively. The Osprey can hold more men and materiel and transport them at much faster speeds and over longer distances than traditional rotorcraft designs. Still, CDI’s report has ignited a new round of controversy over the $70 million aircraft, which was already killed once only to rise up again. The Osprey’s proposed deployment was praised last week by a Marine Corps News story headlined “Osprey Showin’ Muscle,” but CDI claims that the Osprey came up 42 percent short of its advertised 10,000 pound external payload. That would mean the hybrid wouldn’t even be able to carry an up-armored Humvee. CDI also claims that testing for the Osprey was inadequate:

Specific tests to investigate methods of operating safely withing VRS, widely recognized as a potential problem, were cancelled, and because of danger to the rotor system and crew, test aircraft transitioning to helicopter mode “did not employ rapid right turns” that a helicopter would have used for evasion.

V-22s can supposedly make vertical takeoffs or landings with one engine inoperable, yet during 17 years of testing, this maneuver has never been attempted.

Today InsideDefense.com reported additional problems with flight testing that occurred this summer in the New Mexico desert. According to a report from the Defense Department’s operational testing directorate,

“Frequent part and system failures, limited supply support, and high false alarm rates in the built-in diagnostic systems caused frequent flight delays and an excessive maintenance workload,” the report says.

Some of the reliability problems “may be attributable to the extended exposure to the desert operating environment” where the assessment occurred, says the report.

All this adds up to something of a nightmare scenario for the unique V-22. Terrorists seem to prefer a desert environment, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan offer little but, so reliability problems in New Mexico are deeply troubling. In addition, the inability to take evasive action means the aircraft will be of little use in the event of conflict with a competent adversary like the Chinese military. After making such an enormous investment in the V-22, the Pentagon will be loathe to scrap the project, and some members of Congress appear equally reticent to cut a program that provides so many jobs, but the alternative might be far worse.

The V-22, with Humvee in tow