No Well-Defined Navy Role Yet Assigned For The Tilt-Rotor Aircraft

The Marine Corps, which is the primary customer for the V-22 Osprey, has begun to deploy the tilt-rotor aircraft on amphibious assault ships and in Iraq over the past two years.

But for the Navy, there is no clearly-defined role for the aircraft.

“The V-22 is being considered as one option for the replacement of the C-2; however, there has been no final determination and, to date, there have been no Navy-specific requirements designed into the V-22,” Lt. Callie Ferrari, a spokeswoman at the Pentagon told The Navy Times.

The C-2 is also known as the COD, or Carrier On-board Delivery aircraft. There are 35 of the aircraft in the fleet today, but they began service in 1984, and are reaching the end of their initial service life, according to the Navy.  The majority,however, have been through a life-extension program, which will give the aircraft an additional 5,000 flying hours, and may leave the Osprey without a role to fill. The Navy would not say when a replacement for the COD would be needed.

When the Osprey program began over 20 years ago, the Navy foresaw its use in SAR, fleet logistics, and special warfare. But many of those missions are currently being flown by H-60 helicopters.

The Navy originally ordered 48 of the tilt-rotor aircraft under a long-term planning agreement between the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, but unlike the other services, the Navy did not allocate funding or offer a clear mission for the V-22. It has been talked about in an anti-submarine warfare role, and a Bell-Boeing spokesman said they have discussed delivering one aircraft for "fleet logistics", but that other missions, for now, remain "conceptual."

FMI: www.navy.mil