US Navy Expects Its Carrier Onboard Delivery Ospreys to be Fully Operational By 2024 - C-2A Greyhound from VRC-40.jpg ...

The tilt-rotors will fully replace the old C-2As by 2028, but it's still not
clear if they are up to the job.

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http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...tional-by-2024

The U.S. Navy has revealed new details about its schedule to replace the C-2A
Greyhound carrier on-board delivery (COD) aircraft with the CMV-22B Osprey
tilt-rotor, what bases will host the new aircraft, and their missions. Though
serious questions remain about just how well the Osprey is suited to the task,
the service says it hopes new aircraft will be fully operational in 2024 and the
transition will be complete by 2028.

At present, the Navy is hoping the first CMV-22B units will be operational by
2020 – a year earlier than it had planned in 2016 – and that the type will reach
full operational capability four years later, ahead of the C-2A’s official
retirement in 2026. The full fleet of 38 Ospreys is slated to take over for the
27 Greyhounds, which will reach the end of their official service lives by 2026,
no later than 2028. The service-specific version of the tilt-rotor will have
additional fuel and communications gear compared to the U.S. Air Force and
Marine Corps variants, as well as a public address system in the main cabin.
Bell-Boeing concept art for the aircraft does show a very distinct “towel rack”
radio antenna along the rear fuselage.

“The increased number of [CMV-22B] aircraft … is needed because the current
inventory of C-2A aircraft is not sufficient to meet the mission requirements,”
the service explained in a draft environmental assessment it released earlier in
January 2018, which USNI News was first to report on. “Facilities and support
must be in place and operational at the first main operating base by October
2020 to support the first detachment’s unit level training, which would lead up
to deployment.”

“Unlike the C-2A, the Navy V-22 would not be tied to runways ashore,” the
assessment said. “Because the Navy V-22 can be refueled in the air, it can span
vast ocean distances on deployment and achieve its carrier on-board delivery
mission despite a paucity of land bases.”

The CMV-22B will be able to land on carriers or other ships in the associated
strike group and deliver cargo or passengers at night, as well, something the
Navy does not do with the C-2A. Since it won't require the use of a catapult for
take offs or arresting gear to land, it will be able to perform its mission even
if those systems are not operating, either because the rest of the air wing is
not conducting active operations or for some other reason. It will also take
less personnel to launch and recover the Ospreys in general.




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