Non-Subscriber Extract
US Marine Corps expands tilt-rotor commitment
- Article Tools
|
19 May 2003 |
By Craig Hoyle JDW Aviation Editor
London
030519.jpg)
In
one of the strongest indications to date of the US Marine Corps' (USMC's)
continued determination to field tilt-rotors and other transformational
aircraft types, the service has announced plans to establish a 'centre of
excellence' to oversee the future development of the MV-22 Osprey and emerging
concepts such as a quad tilt-rotor transport and a canard rotor/wing escort.
The ethos behind the new centre is to ensure that mistakes made during the early development of the MV-22 tilt-rotor are not repeated during future programmes, said Lt Gen Michael Hough, the USMC's Deputy Commandant for Aviation. Identifying a shortfall in simulation and modelling expertise and poor system reliability as having hurt the project in its early days, he told a Royal Aeronautical Society lecture in London on 13 May: "We've fixed that [and] the V-22 is going remarkably well."
Highlighting the aircraft's vital role in transforming the speed and reach of future USMC operations, Gen Hough said "there's a lot of time to do it right second time" in getting the aircraft into service. Noting that current helicopter designs cannot match the MV-22's mandated performance capabilities and the marine corps' operational requirements out to 2040, he said: "If it doesn't work, we'll have to reinvent it."
Programme opponents argue that the Osprey platform must overcome a number of fundamental performance challenges before it can receive approval to enter series production around Fiscal Year 2005. These include, they say: the ability to self-deploy over a 2,100nm distance – a benchmark that is currently missed by some 400nm; the need to deliver an underslung load over a 50nm radius; and the meeting of established weight goals.
Looking beyond the MV-22, Gen Hough said a concept to develop a quad tilt-rotor transport has been proved sound during initial study activities. To have a maximum take-off weight of 100,000-lb (45,455kg), including a payload of more than 30,000-lb, this platform should fly more than 1,000km at speeds approaching 300kt, before landing in less than 1,000ft (305m). Bell Helicopter Textron is conducting an assessment of the design under an initial $400,000 study. The US Army has also shown interest in this concept as a potential solution for its future medium-lift transport aircraft requirement (JDW 3 July 2002). In a further development, Boeing's Dragonfly canard rotor/wing concept is believed to be receiving continued interest from the USMC to serve as a possible armed escort for the MV-22 and other platforms.
401 of 888 words
 |
| The USMC is giving renewed emphasis to tilt-rotor technology regarding its future lift requirements (USMC) |