Osprey testing to begin soon
Andy Tompkins
By Bob Cox
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Marine test pilots and ground crews will soon begin a crucial round of
testing to see how well Bell Helicopter's V-22 Osprey aircraft will
perform in real-world military operations.
A Marine spokeswoman said Thursday that the four-month series of
exercises will probably begin early next month, with much of the
initial work being performed out of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
The stakes are very high, particularly for Bell, as the V-22 embarks on
its second shot at proving its potential value as a military aircraft.
The first round, in 1999-2000, ended with the aircraft getting mixed
reviews and coming close to being canceled after two fatal crashes.
Pentagon officials will be watching closely to see if, after years of
mechanical and design problems and four crashes, the V-22 can perform
reliably and satisfactorily under demanding military conditions.
Bell and military officials overseeing the program have repeatedly
expressed confidence that, after four years of work and testing, the
V-22 will prove its capabilities and worth.
"We feel very confident everything is in place for this to be a
successful operational evaluation," Bell spokesman Bob Leder said.
"We think the aircraft they're flying today is substantially improved
over the aircraft that flew in 2000."
Top Pentagon officials plan to review the V-22 program and test results
in October before making decisions about whether to order more of the
aircraft from Bell and Boeing.
The Marines and Air Force want to buy about 400 V-22s, and the
companies hope to sell the aircraft to the Army and Navy as well.
V-22s will be flown in simulated missions at high altitudes in the
Sierra Nevada mountain test range out of Bridgeport, Calif., and in
desert conditions in Nevada and California, said Lt. Geraldine Carey,
spokeswoman for Marine test squadron VMX-22.
Later testing will show how well multiple V-22s can be operated from a
Navy amphibious ship.
A senior Navy official gave the operational testing go-ahead in late
February, but the decision on when to begin rests with Marine Col.
Glenn Walters, commanding officer of VMX-22.
That decision could come any day now, said Ward Carroll, Navy spokesman
for the V-22 program. Walters won't set a specific starting date,
Carroll said, until "everyone is convinced the airplane is ready to
show its complete capability."
The first round of tests was marked by a April 2000 crash near Marana,
Ariz., that killed 19 Marines.
Despite a highly critical review from the Pentagon's director of
operational testing, whose staff oversees and evaluates the test
program, top Marine generals insisted that the aircraft was ready and
pushed it toward production.
But the program suffered a near fatal blow when a second V-22 crashed
in North Carolina, killing four Marines, in December 2000, just weeks
after the critical report was issued.
All V-22s were grounded for 18 months while engineers worked to fix
technical and mechanical problems, including hydraulic and computer
failures that led to the second crash. Bell, Boeing and the Marines
mapped out a new, start-at-the-beginning test plan and convinced senior
Pentagon officials that they would be able to show that the V-22 could
be flown safely and be used effectively by the military.
Since resuming flights in May 2002, the Osprey has gone through more
than 2 1/2 years of extensive, additional flight testing.
The Marines of VMX-22 have been flying and training in the V-22 for
more than a year, including a preliminary operational testing phase
last fall.
Although there have been no further accidents, V-22 testing has been
plagued by continued problems with mechanical components and a high
rate of canceled flights.
Bob Cox, (817) 390-7723 rc...@star-telegram.com