"Marine Corps Grounds V-22 Osprey Aircraft"

So, what's the latest report?
Mike

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020901860.html

Marine Corps Grounds V-22 Osprey Aircraft

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 10, 2007; D01

The Marine Corps said yesterday it was temporarily grounding its fleet
of V-22 Osprey tilt rotors after discovering a glitch in a computer
chip that could cause the aircraft to lose control.

The order affects 54 of the helicopter-airplane hybrids -- 46 owned by
the Marines and eight belonging to the Air Force -- and could last
weeks, Marine Corps officials said. It was an unexpected setback for
the program; the military last grounded the fleet in 2000 after two
fatal crashes that killed 23 Marines.

While none of the aircraft has been sent into the combat despite more
than 20 years in development, the Osprey has regained support in the
military in recent years. The Marine Corps expects to declare its
version combat-ready this summer, and the Air Force version is
expected to reach that point in early 2009.

The latest glitch should not affect those plans, said James Darcy,
spokesman for the program.

The aircraft's contractors, Bell Helicopter and Boeing, notified the
government of the problem on Tuesday after an onboard diagnostic
computer pointed to an issue with a chip in the flight control
computers, which control all of the aircraft's moving parts. Testing
showed that in below-freezing temperatures, the computers could lose
their redundancy features -- a safety net if one of the computers is
damaged by enemy fire, according to the Marine Corps. That could cause
the pilot to lose control of the aircraft.

"It's unacceptable," Darcy said. "This aircraft has to be able to go
anywhere in the world." The Marine Corps wants an aircraft that can
operate in temperatures as extreme as 65 degrees below zero, he said.

It is unclear how much it will cost to fix the problem, Darcy said.

"Bell and Boeing will work together to get the issue resolved as
quickly as possible so the aircraft can return to flight," said Jack
Satterfield, a Boeing spokesman. "We expect to be able to do that
quickly."

The military plans to buy 360 of the aircraft for the Marine Corps, 50
for the Air Force and 48 for the Navy. The price per aircraft ranges
from about $70 million to $89 million, excluding development costs.

Despite recent progress, including flying across the Atlantic Ocean
this summer, the program continues to have its critics. "This plane
has been in production for over 25 years, costs more than $100 million
each, and is scheduled to go into combat this summer," said Todd
Bowers, defense investigator for Project On Government Oversight, a
watchdog group. "I guess we are seeing the results of the extremely
weak testing done on this aircraft, which is disconcerting since it
will possibly be carrying troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If it can't
stand a little cold weather how can it handle a war zone?"