Inside the Navy
January 22, 2007

DOT&E Report Outlines Concerns

V-22 DESERT TESTING FINDS PROBLEMS THAT HURT MISSION EFFECTIVENESS

The V-22 Osprey, which may deploy to Iraq with Marines this year,
suffered problems that hurt its mission effectiveness when the Air
Force tested it for a month in the New Mexico desert, according to a
new report from the Pentagon¹s top weapons tester.

The problems are described in the latest annual report from the Defense
Department¹s operational testing directorate, led by Charles McQueary.

The V-22 is a helicopter-plane hybrid developed by Bell Helicopter
Textron and Boeing. During an "operational utility evaluation"
conducted last summer in the desert at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM, the
effectiveness of the Osprey for training missions and potential combat
missions was "degraded by poor aircraft availability", says the report,
issued January 18.

"Frequent part and system failures, limited supply support, and high
false alarm rates in the built-in diagnostic systems caused frequent
flight delays and an excessive maintenance workload", the report says.

Some of the reliability problems "may be attributable to the extended
exposure to the desert operating environment" where the assessment
occurred, says the report.

The Osprey provided only "marginal operational availability" during the
41 flights (74 flight hours), the report says.

The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center conducted the
assessment using four of the service¹s CV-22 aircraft. The testing
started June 6, 2006, and wrapped up July 10, said Katherine Gandara, a
spokeswoman for the center. The final test flight for the assessment
was conducted June 30, she said. All of the testing took place in the
desert, she said.

The Marine Corps version of the V-22 would likely suffer the same kinds
of problems in desert conditions, a Pentagon source said.

Both versions of the aircraft are very similar except the CV-22 has
some extra equipment for special operations missions. The Air Force
plans to buy 50 Ospreys for its special operations troops, while the
Marine Corps plans to buy 360.

The report urges the V-22 program to correct the deficiencies noted in
the "operational utility evaluation" before the CV-22 begins its
initial operational testing and evaluation in FY-08.

The report also calls on the program to monitor the operational
suitability of the Marine Corps¹ Block B version of the Osprey, which
is due to deploy this year, to determine the "discrepancy" between the
solid performance reported in the operational evaluation of the Marine
Corps version and the problems now coming to light.

James Darcy, the Navy¹s spokesman for the V-22 program, said the
problems encountered in last summer's testing involved both known and
previously unknown issues.

Program officials do not believe these issues will delay fielding plans
for the Marine Corps or Air Force versions of the Osprey, he said.

Darcy said the testing in New Mexico was originally intended to test
the Air Force¹s rigorous training curriculum. This was a "much more
stressful evaluation" compared to the conditions and types of flights
that the V-22 program anticipates on an actual deployment, he said.

But Philip Coyle, a former director of operational testing and
evaluation at the Pentagon, and now a senior adviser with the Center
for Defense Information, said it is amazing how many reliability
problems continue to affect the V-22.

"This produces a maintenance and support burden that the Marines really
can¹t afford", he said. "All of the reliability problems that they
continue to have here in the [United] States -- it¹s going to drive
them crazy overseas."