MV-22 Keeps Supplies Moving in Iraq

	(Source: US Marine Corps; dated Jan. 22, web-posted Feb. 4, 2008)
	AL ASAD, Iraq — Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 4 and Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 worked together to complete an external lift resupply mission utilizing the MV-22 Osprey Jan. 18.Three MV-22 Ospreys transported a total of 32,000 pounds of food, water, clean laundry and mail from Al Qaim to landing zone Da Nang in the Al Anbar province. According to Maj. John W. Spaid, a MV-22 pilot and assistant operations officer with VMM-263, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the mission was significant because it was the first external lift assault support request assigned to VMM-263 in a combat zone. “We did conduct one training mission to be prepared, but this is the first mission anybody has done in Iraq,” said 1st Lt. Dan Hinkson, executive officer of Transportation Support Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 4, 3rd Marine Logistics Group. According to Hinkson, in a counter insurgency environment, air resupply mitigates convoy requirements, exposing fewer servicemembers in this area of operations to improvised explosive device threats. Typically, CLB-4 uses the CH-53E Super Stallion or CH-46E Sea Knight for air resupplies. Though the MV-22 is rated to carry less weight on an external lift mission than a CH-53E, it makes up for its weight limit with versatility and speed. According to Lance Cpl. Mitchell A. Kronwinkler, a Helicopter Support Team Marine with CLB-4, the MV-22 gets to the loading zone faster than traditional rotor airframes. “This airframe is particularly suited for remote locations,” said Spaid, a former CH-46E pilot. “If you have a forward operating base far away from our FOB, we can get out there quickly to do the mission.” The MV-22 flies the same speed as other helicopters while in conversion mode with a load, but return to the pick-up site much faster, lifting more loads out in a shorter period of time, added Hinkson. Marines from HST work together to accomplish external lift missions. Their duties include inspecting and preparing the cargo nets, slings and pre-staging all HST gear used. They also fill up the water containers, pick up and load all supplies to be airlifted then coordinate with the logistics Marines, air chief and landing zone ground team to ensure everyone is on the same page. “They weigh, rig and stage loads, conduct pre-mission inspections and safety briefs,” said Hinkson. “During the mission, we focus heavily on safety. It is dangerous under the aircraft and the risk of static shock is high. Everyone is focused and we look out for one another.” Though this was the first external lift resupply mission in combat for the Osprey, the landing support Marines with CLB-4 continue to look forward to working with the MV-22 in the future. “It is a great experience for the Marines,” said Hinkson. “My goal is to get all of my Marines under the Osprey during our deployment.”

CV-22 Osprey Flies First Search and Recovery Mission

Source: US Air Force; issued Oct. 25, 2007

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. — A CV-22 Osprey assigned to the 58th Special Operations Wing here participated in the aircraft’s first search and recovery mission, responding to the fatal crash of a medical aircraft in the mountains of southern Colorado.

Airport officials lost contact with the Arizona-based Beechcraft King airplane at 11:22 p.m. Oct. 4 as the air ambulance headed toward San Luis Regional Medical Center while responding to a medical call.

At about 9:15 a.m. Oct. 5, the Air Force Rescue Center contacted Kirtland Air Force Base with a call to help at the request of civil authorities. Initially, the mission was considered search and rescue because the condition of those aboard the downed aircraft was unknown.

The response team quickly prepared to take off. Aircraft included the CV-22, a pair of HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, and a MC-130P Combat Shadow to provide aerial refueling and serve as air mission control for the operation. Capt. Scott Gwin, aircraft commander on the Osprey, credited the maintenance crew for preparing the aircraft for the speedy search and rescue effort.

The Osprey took off between 11:35 and 11:40 a.m.

“We knew our piece of this was to get up there as quickly as we could and find the crash site,” Captain Gwin said.

The captain pointed out that an advantage of the Osprey is that it can take off and land just about anywhere — saving minutes and hopefully lives.

The Airmen knew weather and altitude would be major obstacles in the rescue effort. The last known radar of the air-ambulance placed it near the top of a huge mountain. The altitude of the crash was expected to be higher than 11,000 feet. Helicopters of any kind have challenges in higher altitudes.

Captain Gwin searched the west and then the east side of the mountain as high as the Osprey could go before clouds made it impossible to see. By then, the MC-130P was orbiting above the site and above the cloud cover and was able to find the crash site with its sensors.

The MC-130P passed the crash location coordinates to the Osprey crew so they could make visual contact and determine if there was evidence of survivors.

Seeing no such evidence, Captain Gwin gave the coordinates to the HH-60G crews so they could land at the crash site and search the area.

Capt. James Grigson, also of the 58th Special Operations Wing, was co-pilot for the HH-60G that landed near the crash site. He said the crew took out some of the fuel tanks from his helicopter to make the aircraft lighter. This would allow the helicopter greater flexibility in landing in a higher altitude but it also meant they would need to refuel in the air at some point during the operation.

“We were on the ragged edge of performance with minimal fuel,” Captain Grigson said. “We had 30 minutes to work with.”

Captain Grigson said they flew to the ranch where civilians were monitoring the rescue operation at a lower elevation. They picked up a local paramedic to help the crew decide which medical facility was appropriate after seeing the injuries of any survivors. The HH-60G then flew to the crash site.

The helicopter landed on the mountain at nearly 12,000 feet. The second HH-60G was too heavy to land. The civilian paramedic and a pararescueman searched for survivors but found none.

The crews called in civilian rescue workers to retrieve the three bodies of the crash victims: a nurse, a paramedic and the pilot of the fallen aircraft.

Though the Osprey was primarily built to be an amphibious assault transport of troops, equipment and supplies from assault ships and land bases, it has proved it can be versatile on search and rescue missions. The Osprey incorporates features of a helicopter and a fixed-wing plane.

The Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft which can operate as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. Once airborne, the CV-22 converts to a high-speed, fuel-efficient turboprop airplane.

The Osprey can fly at 316 miles per hour in airplane mode and 115 miles per hour in helicopter mode. The aircraft’s ceiling is 26,000 feet and it can hold 60,000 pounds of cargo. The aircraft is used by the Air Force, Marines and the Navy.

Kirtland Air Force Base has four CV-22 Ospreys, with plans to add two more by fiscal 2010.

Rockwell Collins CAAS Cockpit Declared Operational in CH-47F

Source:  Rockwell Collins 10/8/07

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) in the Boeing CH-47F cockpit has been declared operationally ready for deployment by the U.S. Army.

“The significance of this upgrade is our CAAS cockpit will provide enhanced levels of situational awareness for CH-47F pilots and can be easily upgraded as new technology is matured,” said Phil Jasper, vice president and general manager of Integrated Systems for Rockwell Collins. “With this program, Rockwell Collins has demonstrated its ability to deliver the CAAS upgrade on time and on budget.”

Initially developed for the Special Operations Forces’ MH-47 and MH-60 helicopter fleets, Rockwell Collins’ CAAS solution has also been selected for the UH-60M, ARH-70A, MH-60T, VH-60N, CH-53E and CH-53K.

The CAAS solution utilizes common, reusable processing elements in each piece of hardware and incorporates an open systems architecture based on commercial standards. The commonality of hardware components is designed to provide lower total life cycle cost and reduce expenditures for technology insertion and supportability.

The first CAAS-equipped platform, the MH-47G, operated by the U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), completed final qualification testing and was deployed in early 2007. Development and testing of the CH-47F was recently completed, paving the way for the fielding of more than 500 CAAS cockpits in Chinook aircraft.

The U.S. Army’s CH-47F Chinook is a multi-mission, heavy-lift transport helicopter that supports the movement of troops, artillery, ammunition, fuel, water, barrier materials, supplies and equipment on the battlefield.

Selected by the U.S. Army as a common digital architecture for its rotary wing transport aircraft, Rockwell Collins’ CAAS, with its fully integrated flight and mission management capabilities, provides the CH-47F with exceptional mission effectiveness. By incorporating integrated communications and navigation systems management, along with the latest in digital battlefield situational awareness and connectivity, the CH-47F CAAS-equipped aircraft provides Army aviation with a reliable and efficient transport helicopter for tactical and combat support mission requirements around the world.

The Quad TiltRotor

Unique in the preliminary design features of the Quad Tiltrotor is the use of two V-22 type wings, forward and aft. Each wing of the Quad Tiltrotor will have an engine and proprotor mounted to the outboard tips similar to that found on the V-22. Significantly larger than a V-22, the Quad Tiltrotor could carry over 90 passengers.

Building on the success of the V-22, Bell’s Heavy Lift, Quad Tiltrotor (QTR), has been in development since 1998. This is a 150,000 lb C-130-sized aircraft that will employ all the benefits of a tiltrotor with the load carrying capacity of a cargo plane. Bell has been working with DARPA on 3 consecutive contracts to reduce the risk of building a full-scale demonstrator of the QTR. DARPA has sponsored the development of an overall QTR technology roadmap, and shared the cost for hover model and wind tunnel model testing.

This aircraft will be able to vertically deliver a 20-ton payload 500-1000 miles. Specifically designed for compatibility with the Army’s Future Combat System (FCS), the QTR will be able to move the Army’s Objective Force equipment and personnel from both strategic airfields and logistics ships directly to the battlefield. More importantly, it will not need an airfield – prepared or unprepared – to land upon.

The Quad Tiltrotor will allow the Marine Corps to move its personnel and major equipment packages (up to 20-tons) from the Enhanced Naval Sea Base directly to objectives far inland. Anti-access actions by the enemy will be rendered impotent, because the QTR will bypass the beaches and seaports that may suffer from port denial and mining threats. The QTR can relieve the need to completely clear the expected shallow water mines that threaten an amphibious assault.

A Special Operations variant will provide organic firepower and refueling capability to the Special Operations Forces to increase their effectiveness in their crucial special missions. Its ability to hover makes the QTR capable of landing anywhere on the battlefield or in the urban environment to evacuate the civilian population or military forces under terrorist threat, or during natural or manmade disasters.

The Army is calling for a deployment capability to include vertical envelopment. It accurately states that there are not enough runways around the world that are capable of handling today’s workhorse intra-theater airlifter, the C-130 Hercules cargo plane, to allow the medium force to reach its goal of deploying a brigade in 96 hours anywhere in the world.

The Army Chief has asked the Air Force to help them in this regard. As the Army transforms itself, it either needs the Air Force to step up and supply the required tactical airlift to the battle, or it needs to develop and field its own intra-theater airlift capability.

This is where the Bell Quad Tiltrotor, or QTR can make a difference. This concept aircraft can lift the Current or the Future force directly to the battle and supply that vertical envelopment the Army requests. The QTR has a fuselage larger than the C-130, and the capability to strategically self-deploy – with a 20 ton payload – and move combat forces forward without the need for runways or airports.

Massive supplies are needed to sustain engaged forces on the battlefield. Moving those supplies through choke points can hamper the effectiveness of even the most potent fighting force. These choke points provide the enemy an opportunity to interdict these supplies using asymmetric warfare techniques. The QTR can eliminate these choke points, counter some of the asymmetric opportunities, and provide multiple supply routes, causing the enemy to have to cover every possible route and complicating his defenses.

Also, the QTR can go anywhere, allowing the allied commander to take advantage of terrain and natural barriers. He can cross rivers without the need for bridges and can move fuel to ground vehicles and water, food and ammunition to troops without securing roads and overland routes. He can drop medium forces behind the enemy and attack from unexpected directions. The QTR can deliver Strykers, FCS, HMMWVs, trucks, trailers, ISO containers and palletized cargo anywhere on the battlefield. Of particular interest to the United States Army, the QTR is being designed to allow an up-armored Stryker to roll on and roll off the aircraft with no adjustments required.

It can land in city parking lots, soccer fields and school grounds, freeways as well as seaports and cargo staging areas. Since bulk liquid is over 75% of the tonnage needed in wartime operations, the Quad Tiltrotor is uniquely designed for that mission. It can supply up to 4400 gallons on each trip – directly to the ground commander, or resupply a Forward Arming & Refuel Point (FARP) without need for an airfield and subsequent transfer of cargo from aircraft to trucks.

Its 300+ mph speed, 1000+ mile range and hover capability will allow the QTR to deliver supplies directly from supply ships before the ships reach port. Many supplies can be off-loaded, even if the port is blocked. In many parts of the world port facilities are far away, making it difficult to resupply allied forces. The QTR can provide quick response with minimum infrastructure and host nation support.

Advanced technology work in the field of flow control is still underway to reduce QTR drag and increase payload by reducing download. More producible actuators are being investigated, and additional wind tunnel tests are expected to show drag reduction at Texas A&M. Flow control actuators appropriate for production will be considered for all Tiltrotors to improve performance.

As of 2005 the Quad Tiltrotor was in its third of four planned engineering design contracts with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Op-Ed-V-22 Exposé: Further Evidence of Time Magazine’s Decline

By Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D.
Source:  The Lexington Institute

There’s sad news from our nation’s capital this week friends. It turns out that the Marine Corps has been run for a quarter century by incompetent leaders who have worked closely with corrupt members of Congress to put young Marines in aircraft that will get them killed. The only thing that can save us from this cabal is courageous investigative reporting that reveals the rot destroying our defense establishment.

Oops — my mistake! I just described the screenplay for Oliver Stone’s next movie. The sad news from Washington I meant to discuss was the continuing erosion of Time Magazine’s relevance in the modern world, as reflected in its goofy cover story this week about the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor that the Marine Corps and other military services are buying.

Time Magazine used to be a major force in American journalism, but now it is searching desperately for readers in a news market crowded with more engaging alternatives. Faced with the same extinction that claimed sister publication Life Magazine, Time is resorting to an old journalistic tool to hold market share — sensationalism.

Since it’s hard to be sensational if you have to report all the facts, Time reporter Mark Thompson has elected to include only the bad stuff. Unfortunately, this results in an account of the V-22’s development that could only be true if the Marine Corps had been run by idiots for the last 25 years — idiots who don’t care about the fate of their fellow Marines in combat.

It isn’t really necessary to rebut this ridiculous thesis, because the V-22 is deploying for combat in Iraq and we will soon have unambiguous indicators of its performance. But just for fun…

1. Time says the V-22 was so bad that even defense secretary Dick Cheney wanted to cancel it. Actually, Cheney killed a hundred major weapons programs in four years at the Pentagon, and V-22 was the one program he couldn’t convince Congress to eliminate.

2. Time says the V-22 has suffered half a dozen major mishaps during development claiming 30 lives. That’s true, but it fails to mention that the CH-46 helicopter the Osprey will replace suffered 44 major mishaps during its first five years of service.

3. Time says the V-22 should be equipped with a forward-firing gun to perform its assault support role. That will come as news to the military, since no assault support aircraft in the joint fleet carries a forward-firing gun.

4. Time says V-22 lacks the “autorotation” capacity that allows helicopters to descend to a survivable landing if engines fail. Well duh: V-22 isn’t a helicopter. However, it has more unpowered glide capability than any chopper in the fleet.

5. Time says the latest version of V-22 is only ready to fly 62% of the time. The real mission-capable rate is 70% — not bad for a new aircraft, and much better than the aging helicopters the Air Force uses for search and rescue in Iraq.

I could go on, but what’s the point? There’s no market for good news about weapons systems. But you’re still going to be hearing a lot about the V-22 in Iraq, because any aircraft that combines the speed and range of airplanes with the vertical agility of helicopters will change the way we wage war.

BAE Systems Launches New V-22 Defensive Weapon System

Did Mark Thompson’s investigative reporting cover this? Things that make you go hmmm….

Read on..

Source: BAE Systems; issued Oct. 2, 2007
QUANTICO, Va. — BAE Systems today unveiled its new remotely operated, turreted weapon system, the Remote Guardian System (RGS), designed to provide 360 degrees of suppressive fire for the Marine Corps V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft.

In recent stability testing at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, the RGS, with a GAU-17, 7.62 mm mini-gun, was mounted on a moving land vehicle test platform. The testers demonstrated the weapon’s accuracy, based on the three-axis stability and control that is the foundation of the RGS and a core capability of BAE Systems.

“RGS performed admirably in the tests, demonstrating accurate fire on-the-move,” Clark Freise, vice president of defense avionics for BAE Systems, said in introducing the system at the Modern Day Marine Expo in Quantico, Virginia. “Due to the support and feedback we received from the Marine Corps’ requirements and user communities, we are now launching this as a mature system.”

BAE Systems, which has been working with the user community to develop and demonstrate this capability since mid-2005, is planning to make the system available for installation beginning in the third quarter of 2008.

RGS, designed to be belly-mounted on the V-22, is the first remote weapon system capable of delivering accurate, sustained fire throughout the aircraft’s entire flight envelope. It features a compact, retractable design that saves valuable aircraft cabin space and was designed to be completely compatible with the V-22’s avionics suite.

Rolls-Royce Awarded $700 Million Contract for V-22 Engines

(Source: Rolls-Royce plc.; issued Sept. 28, 2007)
	Rolls-Royce has signed a $700 million production contract with the Naval Air Systems Command to produce 370 AE 1107C-Liberty engines for the US Marine Corps’ MV-22 and the US Air Force’s CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. The five-year contract coincides with the first combat deployment of MV-22 aircraft that took place this month. The production agreement includes engines for 148 aircraft plus 74 spares, for deliveries going forward to 2013. Dennis Jarvi, President Defense North America for Rolls-Royce, said: “This agreement represents another significant step in the development of this revolutionary aircraft. Rolls-Royce engines will provide the power, speed and range our customer requires to meet their mission.” The Bell-Boeing aircraft were approved for full-rate production in 2005. The tiltrotor aircraft takes off and lands like a helicopter and can fly like an airplane. The twin engine V-22’s fly at twice the speed, with three times the payload and up to five times the range, of conventional helicopters.

Time rips apart Osprey

Before you read this blog entry any further, you must read this article by Mark Thompson.  No relation I can assure you.  Time has managed to make this their cover story for the week of Oct. 7th.  My problem with this article is that the article is biased and unilateral in viewpoint.  I must say publically that I am disappointed in Time for making an Editorial their cover story.

The V-22 is the product of the realization of the fact that we don’t fight the ‘big wars’ anymore.  What I mean is that we are fighting the small skirmish missions that dictate the need to get in and out of volatile areas quickly.
Another point – where is there another aircraft that can do what the V-22 does and ensure the same probability of success?   Let’s look at the aircraft it is replacing, shall we?

Current and projected CH-46E and CH-53D deficiencies include the
following:
1) Inadequate payload, range, and airspeed
2) Lack of ability to communicate, navigate, and operate in adverse weather
conditions, day or night
3) Lack of self-deployment or aerial refueling capability
4) Inability to operate in a Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) environment
5) Insufficient threat detection and self-protection capabilities
6) Unacceptably high maintenance and inspection rates
7) Limited communication capability for embarked troop commanders
Sure a lot of money and time has gone into this.  But before you judge, look at the entire package.  The complexity of this aircraft correlated with the function it serves deserves our time and our tax dollars.
Yes, granted, they lumped all the new untried capabilities into one pretty rotored package,  which compound problems.  These new capabilities include a conceptually new design (a compound aircraft), which include an all electronic maintenance manual system, a unique logistics numbering system, and a new operational-readiness reporting system…all while seeking to fulfill multi-service needs and being vulnerable to an inadequate supply of spares which is a direct result of budgeting constraints.  Let’s not blame the plane here OR its design or it’s usefulness.
We need the V-22.   If we focus on it’s maturity more then its production, it will prove it’s worth.  If money is spent throwing these new babies into a war zone, well..

GAO Decision on CSAR-X Protest

Source: US Gov. Accountability Office

On Aug. 30, GAO sustained a second round of bid protests by Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky against the US Air Force’s handling of the contentious $15 billion CSAR-X search and rescue helicopter contract. Boeing’s HH-47 Chinook was selected by the air force.
GAO decided to sustain LMSI’s and Sikorsky’s protests against the air force’s determination not to revise the bid process because it considered that, if an agency materially changes the RFP’s evaluation criteria, bidders must be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to the revised evaluation scheme.
GAO also recommended that, if the evaluation of revised proposals shows that Boeing’s proposal no longer represents the best value, the air force should terminate its contract. GAO also recommended that LMSI and Sikorsky be reimbursed the costs of filing and pursuing their protests, including reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Boeing Builds First GPS IIF Satellite

ST. LOUIS — The Boeing Company has successfully assembled and integrated all flight hardware onto the first Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite. GPS IIF will bring new capabilities to the GPS constellation such as full onboard encrypted military code, a new civil signal, crosslink enhancements, signal power increases and longer design life.

“GPS IIF is on track because of the team’s stellar application of back-to-basics program management,” said Howard Chambers, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. “The performance of these subsystems is a testament to our process-based management and to our lean manufacturing commitment, and GPS IIF fully meets the specifications set forth by our U.S. Air Force customer and places us firmly on track to deliver the satellite for the first launch in 2008.”

Boeing is building 12 GPS Block IIF satellites under contract from the Navstar GPS Wing at the Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles.

The satellite’s sophisticated L-band payload will include new hardware that serves the civil user community. Designed to enhance non-safety-critical applications, the signals will improve aviation and other precision safety signals.

Technicians are preparing GPS IIF for key dynamic environmental tests designed to confirm its structural design and mechanical integrity. They also are attaching the solar panels and configuring the satellite before it undergoes several physical tests. The tests will help ensure robust mission assurance with an emphasis on product integrity and mission success.

Each GPS IIF satellite will complete acoustic stress tests using high-powered speakers to verify that the spacecraft can tolerate the high sound pressure levels during launches; mechanical tests similar to a separation test to make sure it disconnects cleanly and correctly from the launch vehicle; tests of its deployable mechanisms such as the solar wings and the antenna to ensure that they release correctly on-orbit; and finally, GPS IIF will undergo thermal vacuum testing to confirm its ability to operate in a vacuum and under the extreme temperatures of space.

Working closely with the U.S. Air Force to deliver new, advanced GPS capabilities to the military, civil government and the general public, Boeing will continue the GPS Wing’s track record of on-orbit performance and constellation sustainment to guarantee GPS availability to users worldwide.