Modifications to the Osprey's system for folding and stowing its tiltrotors and wings aboard ship require further testing and evaluation at sea. That is expected to be completed by Nov. 15, the Navy said.
Monday
October 16, 2000
MV-22 Deemed Operationally Effective, Operationally Suitable
PHILADELPHIA, USA ( Boeing Company Press Release ) -
The MV-22 Osprey has been judged operationally effective and operationally suitable for land-based operations, validating eight months of comprehensive evaluation and moving the tiltrotor aircraft a major step closer to full-rate production, Marine Corps officials announced Friday, Oct. 13.
The Operational Evaluation report, issued by the Navy's Operational Test and Evaluation Command, stopped short of declaring the aircraft suitable for ship-based operations, pending additional evaluation of the Blade Fold Wing Stow system. Since completion of Operational Evaluation, the system designed to fold and stow the prop rotors and wings has been modified and successfully demonstrated at the V-22 final-assembly facility in Amarillo, Texas.
Follow-on evaluation at sea is expected to be completed by mid-November. Successful sea trials will pave the way to full-rate production and multi-year procurement.
While the issue of shipboard compatibility awaits resolution, the report confirmed that
the MV-22 met or exceeded all other key performance parameters. In key capabilities, the MV-22 proved its superiority to the CH-46E and CH-53D, the medium-lift aircraft the Osprey will replace. In the most telling comparison � to the CH-46E � the MV-22 boasts twice the speed, five times the range and triple the payload capacity. The report concluded that these and other enhancements unique to the MV-22 will revolutionize assault-support operations.
Capable of taking off and landing like a helicopter and also flying like a turboprop airplane, the MV-22 entered Operational Evaluation in November 1999 with fewer deficiencies than any aircraft in the history of naval aviation.
During test evaluations at Marine and Naval facilities throughout the country, the MV-22
logged 805 flight hours in 522 sorties. The Multi-Service Operational Test Team
evaluated the aircraft's suitability for use by Marine Corps' operating forces through a
series of representative missions from amphibious ships, airfields, remote sites,
confined areas, ranges and other test facilities. A decision on whether to proceed with
full-rate production is expected later this year.
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