Aviation Week reports “Air Force Special Operations Command is reviewing the role of its CV-22 fleet, focusing on if it is organized and equipped for safe operations, amid a three-month-long grounding of the fleet following a fatal crash.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: Osprey
V-22 Program Office Eyes Technology Refresh to Extend Osprey’s Life
Defense News reports, “The V-22 program office is studying the future of the tiltrotor aircraft, weighing both a technology refresh as well as whether it could rip off the wings and nacelles to add decades of additional life to the airframes.”
Full Story (Defense News)
Japanese Authorities Hand Over Pieces of Wreckage from USAF Osprey Crash
The AP reported, “Japanese authorities handed over pieces of the wreckage from an U.S. Air Force Osprey that crashed off southwestern Japan to the U.S. military on Sunday, as the search continued for seven missing servicemembers.” The wreckage “had been collected by a ship from the regional coast guard headquarters and by fishers from the town of Yakushima since the CV-22 aircraft crashed into the water near the town Wednesday during a training mission to Okinawa.”
Full Story (The AP)
USAF’s CV-22 Ospreys Cleared to Resume Flying Amid Unresolved Gearbox Issue
Aviation Week reported that on September 2, US Air Force Special Operations Command “returned its CV-22 fleet to flight after more than two weeks of grounding because of an issue with the tiltrotor’s gearbox for which the service still does not have a root cause.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Air Force Special Operations Command Grounding Fleet of Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft
The Hill reports the US Air Force Special Operations Command “has grounded its entire fleet of CV-22 Ospreys due to two recent safety incidents involving the aircraft’s clutch.” The decision “stems from an ‘increased number of safety incidents’ involving the Ospreys, including two in the past six weeks and a total of four since 2017.” The decision to ground the aircraft “follows two accidents that killed nine Marines earlier this year involving the Marine Corps’ MV-22B version of the aircraft.”
Full Story (The Hill)
Bell and Boeing Mark Upcoming Completion of CV-22 Osprey Production
Defense Industry Europe reports, “Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, and Boeing have marked the upcoming completion of the CV-22 Program of Record for the U.S. Air Force … According to Bell, the U.S. Air Force is the first service branch to complete its program of record for new CV-22 aircraft, which feature improved nacelles. The final aircraft under this program is expected to be delivered in the coming months.”
Full Story (Defense Industry Europe)
V-22 Official Anticipates Return of Normal Osprey Ops by End of 2026
Defense Daily reports, “The V-22 Joint Program Office manager expects the Ospreys to finally move back to unrestricted flight operations by the end of 2026 once several component changes to improve safety are implemented, he said during a recent conference. Notably, the metal used…”
Full Story (Defense Daily – Subscription Publication)