The Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey may rightly be called the most peculiar transport aircraft of the early 21st century, what with its ability to transform from a rotary-wing to a fixed-wing transport at the flick of a switch. Preceded by experimental VTOL cargo designs such as the CL-84 Dynavert and the relatively large Dornier Do-31, the V-22 is the first STOVL/VTOL aircraft to serve actively in any air force. With its innovative design and a slew of proposed variants, to all intents and purposes the Osprey appears to have been a success story for Bell as well as a necessary component of the USMC. However, political and mechanical trouble has plagued the Osprey during its production, with congress attempting to pull the plug on the purchase of Ospreys several times. The craft was also less than favourably reviewed by Time magazine, and remains a controversial type today.
The Osprey's beginnings lay in the search for an aircraft offering the versatility of a helicopter minus the faults, and later, vulnerabilities. Bell, with several years of experience designing tiltrotor craft, decided to expand on their XV-15 experimental design and increase its troop carrying capacity. The resulting aircraft was the bulkier, carrier-capable V-22A. Dual Allison T406 turboprop engines provided the lifting power necessary for both horizontal and vertical takeoff, although the V-22A could take off with greater loads by just tilting the rotors as opposed to positioning them vertically. However, it is able to carry far heavier loads with in VTOL (Vertical Take-Off/Landing) mode than all but the most powerful, multi-engined cargo helicopters.. Due to its ability to "tilt" its wingtip-mounted rotors and change their angle, the V-22 could transform from a helicopter (Vertical turbo-prop configuration) to a fixed-wing transport (Horizontal turbo-prop configuration). It flew first on March 19th, 1989, from a land-locked airfield and demonstrated its VTOL capabilities. Certain incidents arose in production, such as equipment malfunctions, and a series of crashes killing thirty people. The massive blades of the Osprey, although along with the large engines generated the lift needed for a vertical take-off, were in fact too powerful and had a tendency to literally "blow" people off their feet. However, despite these faults, the advantages of the Osprey were serious enough to gain orders from three of the five major United States forces, the USAF (United States Air Force) the USMC, and the USN (United States Navy). The latter looked into both search and rescue (HV-22) Ospreys and ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare, SV-22) Ospreys but the orders were eventually both withdrawn, and helicopters for the most part were used instead. A small number of CV-22Bs was ordered for naval duties instead. The USMC, the biggest advocate of the V-22, ordered a large number of MV-22B Ospreys which decreased to 360, and will be the largest operator by far.
The definitive variant of the Osprey is the numerous MV-22B model, although the CV-22B has acquired many features not otherwise allocated to the MV-22B. The "B" suffix is applied to all variants directly succeeding the original V-22A prototypes, although for the most part, the differences between the "A" and "B" models remain minor. The aircraft accommodates 4 crew members in the cockpit, while troops and equipment can be seated/stored in a rear-fuselage compartment. The dual Rolls-Royce Allison T406-AD-400 turboshaft engines stored in wingtip-mounted nacelles are relatively easy to maintain, decreasing the overall "down-time" (Time spent under repairs) of the craft.
Like most shipboard aircraft, MV-22Bs serving onboard marine assault carriers can be partially disassembled, by folding its wings, tilting its engines forward and "fanning" the propeller blades (folding them so that they resemble a hand-fan). The Osprey has been oft criticized for the sheer amount of space it fills, even "folded", due to its bulky shape. The Osprey is also equipped with modernised avionics systems, such as fly-by-wire controls, although they lack the terrain-following radar equipping the CV-22Bs. The upwards-sloping rear fuselage forced the loading door and ramp to be mounted on the underside of the tail boom. Round windows are located on the port and starboard fuselages, but are chiefly used for observational purposes. Recently, MV-22Bs have been equipped with large counter-measures and weapons suites, which ultimately allows for greater efficiency in undertaken missions. Missile-warning systems and flare/chaff compartments allow the MV-22B Osprey to both anticipate and react to threats, although it lacks certain counter-measures suites found on the CV-22B models.
The V-22A was ordered somewhat prematurely by the USMC (United States Marine Corps), who were extremely impressed at the benefits it could offer as opposed to the CH-53Es it would replace. The V-22A could only carry roughly half of the troops a "Sea Stallion" could, but in fixed-wing mode was much quicker and had a superior range. This enabled speedy, safe assaults out of the range of onshore defences, which was appealing to the USMC. Although the V-22A never entered licensed production, a special-forces/miscellaneous duties variant was produced for the marines, the aforementioned MV-22. The USAF also ordered the only other variant of the Osprey in service, the CV-22B troop transport aircraft.
Bell announced in early 2011 plans to build armed variants of the V-22, which along with conventional variants would be aimed at foreign export markets, including the middle-east. Bell has not specified whether the armed version would be assault or attack platforms. However, a fair number of MV/CV-22Bs have already been converted to armed assault aircraft with the addition of gun pods. The arming of the aircraft is a recent feature although it will increase mission efficiency and allow the crew to lay down a base of fire on lading zones. In a recent venture with Agusta, Bell designed and unveiled a new tiltrotor transport designated the BA609, which is sleeker than the Osprey. It is initially intended for the civilian market, but like the Osprey which somewhat influenced its design, is also being investigated by armed forces and a militarized variant may be developed.
Sources:
Winchester, Jim, ed. American Military Aircraft. London: Amsel house, 2005. Print.
Written by: Pace51