Month: October 2018

History of the V-22 Osprey

The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft which has been under development, modified, changed and upgraded for nearly 4 decades. The U.S. Army began the program to develop an experimental aircraft back in 1981, it was known as the Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing experimental aircraft or JVX.  The U.S. Navy later took over as the lead component with full-scale development of the V-22 beginning in 1986.  In 2005 the DAB approved the aircraft for military use and full rate production.

DoD Budget

According to Department of Defense (FY) 2019 budget estimates, the overall Navy aircraft procurement objective is currently set at 461 V-22 aircraft. There are 3 basic variants of the aircraft with the loins share dedicated to the U.S. Marine Corps. The 2019 budget breakdown is as follows:

• Marine Corps model number MV-22: Total quantity of 360 aircraft. The Marines achieved IOC in 2007 and have a projected FOC date of 2018.  Inventory is currently at 200 aircraft as of January 2014.

• Navy model number CMV-22: Total quantity of 48 aircraft. The projected date for IOC is 2021 with an FOC date of 2022. While the budget has a quantity of 48 projected, the Navy currently plans to procure only 44 aircraft.

• Air Force AFSOC model number CV-22: Total quantity of 53 aircraft. They achieved IOC in 2009 with a projected FOC date of 2024.

Basics

The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft, capable of Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing (V/STOL) with the ability to fly forward like a conventional fixed-wing aircraft. In fact the Osprey can operate as a helicopter or a turboprop aircraft. The V-22 is capable of flying over 2,100 nautical miles with a single refueling, giving the Services the advantage of a V/STOL aircraft able to rapidly self-deploy to any location in the world.

The USMC is using the MV-22 variant to replace the CH-46E and CH-53D. The Air Force CV-22 variant replaces the MH-53-J/M and the Navy CMV-22 will be replacing the C-2A in the Navy inventory.

The V-22 Osprey program estimates each aircraft to have a service life of 25 years with the fiscal year in service ending in 2054. The current program office is NAVAIR PMA-275.

Companies Involved

Many companies have been involved in the design and building of the V-22 Osprey. The Prime contractor is Bell Boeing Joint project office cage code 3B1R2.

There are numerous companies producing the many systems within the aircraft.  Below are a few we looked at; they produce, modify or repair the types of items listed.

BAE Systems Controls – Cage code 89954 is involved with items such as flight control computers and circuit card assemblies.

EFW Inc – Cage code 0WEC9, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems is involved with special purpose computers for the V-22 as well as main displays for the aircraft.

Moog – Stock ticker symbol MOG, Cage code 94697 is involved with rotary electro-mechanical actuators, and electric power plants for the aircraft.

Honeywell International – Stock ticker symbol HON operates under various cage codes with items such as the ACU-22/A compressor, flight information display units, and control valves.

Eaton Corporation – Stock ticker symbol ETN, Cage code 99643 provides things like pneumatic brake valves and hydraulic brake master cylinders.

Summary and  more to come

We’ll be reviewing more of our data on the V-22 Osprey in the future creating other articles and reports. We plan to show the all companies involved and what they manufacture for the V-22. If you can’t wait feel free to look at some of the data yourself.

BidLink is a provider of DoD procurement research tools and has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DoD procurement and solicitations for the past 18 years. Find defense contracts and research competition. Learn more at www.bidlink.net

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