Squadron Service - United States Air Force
The USAF Special Operations Command is due to receive 50 CV-22s. These will replace MH-53J and MH-60G helicopters and augment the MC-130 fleet. The Air Force requires the CV-22 to provide a long-range VTOL insertion and extraction capability.
The first production CV-22, 02-0024, was delivered to Edwards AFB on September 19th 2005.
The second production CV-22, 02-0025, made a precautionary landing at Ernest A Love Field, Prescott, Arizona on October 18th 2005 while on its delivery flight to Edwards AFB. Details about this incident are unclear, but it appears to have something to do with a build-up of ice while the aircraft was in cloud at 18000 feet. The aircraft was eventually delivered to Edwards on October 27th 2005.
Both these aircraft were at Block 0 standard, essentially the same as the Block B MV-22 but equipped with a radar and a suite of IR countermeasures equipment.
CV-22 initial operational capability is scheduled for 2009. Air Force CV-22 pilots will begin their training with VMMT-204 at MCAS New River, then move to the 71st Special Operations Squadron at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, for training in systems and tactic unique to the CV-22.
The first combat-configured CV-22 Osprey (04-0026) was handed over to the Air Force on March 1st 2006 during a ceremony at the Bell manufacturing facility in Amarillo, Texas. This is the first "Block 10" aircraft, representing the configuration that the Air Force Special Operations Command will bring into service in 2009.
The man who received the keys to the aircraft was Lt. Col. Jim Cardoso, commanding officer of the 71st Special Operations Squadron, which will get this Osprey to support aircrew training at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM.
The aircraft seems to have gone to Edwards AFB first. It was delivered to the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, from Edwards on March 20th 2006. The aircraft was flown by Lt Gen Michael Wooley, commander of AFSOC. The 58th SOW is scheduled to receive four Ospreys by the end of June 2006.
As of July 14th 2006 the CV-22 fleet became an Air Education and Training Command asset. After the aircraft started arriving at Kirtland AFB in the spring of 2006, the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center began the operational utility evaluation, or OUE, needed to establish that the aircraft was suitable for training. To accomplish this, AFSOC's 18th Flight Test Squadron in Florida was tasked to create a detachment to test the aircraft. The final sortie of the three-week OUE was on June 29th, leading to the four aircraft being transfered one by one from AFSOC to AETC.
During August 2006 the Ospreys returned to Edwards AFB to carry out an Electronic Warfare Integrated Assessment test. The 412th Test Wing Electronic Warfare Group was tasked with this mission, making it the first government-run Electronic Warfare test of the CV-22.
The testing involved CV-22 aircrew useing a combination of maneuvers, chaff, radar warning receiver threat cueing, onboard electronic countermeasures and low altitude terrain clutter in an attempt to escape a simulated threat engagement while the combined performance of the EW suite was observed.
After the Ospreys return from California, the training of flight crews will begin at Kirtland AFB. This leads up to Initial Operational Test and Evaluation in autumn 2007, in which the Osprey will be run through its paces to make sure it's ready for operational employment.
The first operational CV-22, 02-0025, was delivered to the 8th SOS at Hurlburt Field, Florida. On the same day the 16th Special Operations Wing was redesignated the 1st SOW.
On February 9th 2007 the USAF grounded its entire fleet of eight CV-22s after a cold-weather check identified a microprocessor redundancy fault in the flight control system. The processor is supposed to detect and isolate a failed flight-control computer to ensure redundancy in the aircraft's triplex digital flight control system.
Within a week of the grounding, flight-control computers with an earlier microprocessor were pooled and installed in three CV-22s (and 16 MV-22s), to allow testing and training to continue.
On March 9th 2007 the V-22 fleet surpassed 25,000 flight hours when a crew from the 71st Special Operations Squadron at Kirtland AFB flew a 2.4-hour student qualification flight in CV-22 02-0024. Air Force crew members on the historic flight included Lt. Col. Todd A. Lovell, aircraft commander and director of operations for the 71st SOS, Lt. Col. James E. Breck and Capt. Patrick D. Fronk, both members of the first student class of the 71st SOS.
On April 20th 2007 members of the 720th Special Tactics Group performed the first Air Force military freefall jump from the CV-22 Osprey (aircraft 05-0028) at Hurlburt Field (see video).
In July 2007 a joint USAF/Boeing team was conducting "live" instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) flight tests of the CV-22’s terrain following/terrain avoidance (TF/TA) radar system prior to completing development ready for operational use. The tests were carried out in Virginia's Blue Ridge mountains. The CV-22 was flying as low as 100 feet and as slow as 50 knots (GS) in varying terrain from 700 ft to over 4,800 ft, the pilot relying completely on the aircraft’s multi-mode radar and its processing system to command flight cues.
The 8th Special Operations Squadron completed another mission to verify and prove the tactics, techniques and procedures of the CV-22 Osprey during a water operations exercise with Navy SEALs June 27-28 at Lake Jackson in Florala, Ala.
The mission was a three-part event with boat deployment, helocasting and live water hoist operations. The boat drop was made in helicopter mode at a height of 10 feet and a flight speed of 10 knots. Helocasting is basically the same thing except the team in the back of the aircraft jumps in the water right after the boat is deployed.
The purpose of the validation was to prove the CV-22's ability in water operations and help build training programs for future aircrews.
The US Air Force's 8th SOS deployed four CV-22 Osprey to Bamako, Mali at the end of October 2008 to participate in exercise Flintlock 09 in Mali and Senegal, intended to help African nations patrol their own territory. With poor road systems and vast distances to travel on the continent, the CV-22 is seen as well suited to provide the speed and reach needed for such missions. The aircraft was used to transport Malian and Senegalese special operations forces and their leadership teams.
05-0030 was one of the aicraft deployed. All four aircraft arrived back at Hurlburt Field on November 26th 2008 after a 5300nm flight across the Atlantic.
On March 2nd 2009 a CV-22 made an emergency landing at Kirtland AFB after losing an engine on takeoff. A summary of the AIB report is still awaited (see usaf.aib.law.af.mil/indexFY09.html).
insidedefense.com reported in October 2010 that the Air Force report on this incident "blames a design problem associated with the mount support brackets, bonding straps, and bonding strap mounting hardware on the Central De-ice Distributor (CDD) units" located inside the prop-rotors that propel the Osprey.
The CV-22 fleet passed the Initial Operating Capability (IOC) milestone on March 19th 2009. On March 21st, loose bolts found inside an engine casing of a MV-22 in Iraq caused the whole fleet to be grounded. All eleven CV-22s had been inspected and returned to flight status by March 25th.
In June 2009 the 8th SOS deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This was the first combat deployment of the CV-22.
Members of the 8th SOS returned to Hurlburt Field on November 12th 2009 after a 3-month deployment to Iraq with six CV-22 Ospreys. The Osprey's mission was to conduct long-range infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions for special operations forces.
The 8th SOS deployed to Afghanistan in March 2010. Their CV-22s were transported to the Indian Ocean by ship. They were offloaded on March 30th and flown to Khandahar (?) on April 1st.
Maj. Randell D. Voas and Senior Master Sgt. James B. Lackey from the 8th Special Operations Squadron died on April 8th 2010 (0039 on 09-Apr-2010 local time) when their CV-22 Osprey (06-0031) crashed seven miles west of Qalat City in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan. An Army soldier and a civilian employee also died in the crash, and several other service members were injured. Once the crash site was secured and all the injured personnel evacuated, attack aircraft were called into destroy the wreckage and "sanitize" the crash site to prevent specialized communications gear aboard the aircraft from falling into the wrong hands.
The AAIB report (released on December 17th 2010) described the accident as follows:
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On 9 April 2010, the Mishap Aircraft (MA), a CV-22B, T/N 06-0031, impacted the ground at
approximately 75 knots ground speed (KGS) at approximately 0039L during a mission to
infiltrate a team near Qalat, Afghanistan. The Mishap Pilot (MP), Mishap
Flight Engineer (MFE) and two passengers were killed in the mishap. The Mishap Copilot (MCP), while still strapped into his seat, fell out of the
aircraft, sustaining injuries to his spine and leg. The flight engineer in
the rear of the aircraft, serving as the Mishap Tail Scanner (MTS), suffered life threatening
injuries to his arm, spine, and legs. The remaining 14
passengers sustained various degrees of injuries. The aircraft was severely damaged
upon impact, and then due to its location, destroyed with ordnance.
The loss was valued at $87,000,000.00 for the aircraft and $142,911.36 in crew
equipment and ammunition.
The Board President ruled out multiple causes including: enemy action, brownout, vortex ring state, mid-air collision, loss of hydraulic system, electrical failure, drive shaft failure, swashplate actuator mount failure, flight control failure, thrust control lever (TCL) rigging, avionics failure, and crew physiological events.
He found that the accident was caused by a combination of factors: inadequate weather planning, a poorly executed low visibility approach, a tailwind, a challenging visual environment, the mishap crew's task saturation, the mishap copilot's distraction, the mishap copilot's negative transfer of a behavior learned in a previous aircraft, the mishap crew's pressing to accomplish their first combat mission of the deployment, an unanticipated high rate of descent and engine power loss.
His opinion was that the pilot knew that the aircraft was descending too fast, but an engine malfunction in the minute before landing prevented the option of applying full power and going round to make another landing attempt. A rolling landing was the only other option, which would have worked if the drainage ditch hadn't been in the way. The absence of the Flight Incident Recorder, the Vibration Structural Life and Engine Diagnostics control unit, and the right engine prevented the board from obtaining clear and convincing evidence of the cause of the accident.
Unusually, senior Air Force generals overturned the findings of their own investigation team and ruled that the fatal crash of 06-0031 was largely due to flight crew mistakes and not a mechanical/engine problem.
On June 18th 2010 the 20th SOS began operations with the CV-22 at Cannon AFB, New Mexico.
Two CV-22s (08-0037 and 08-0039) arrived at RAF Mildenhall on March 23rd 2011, and two more (07-0033 and 08-0038) on Narch 25th. It seems that these are (overdue) replacements for the MH-53s which used to operate out of Lakenheath.
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