HANGAR TALK


V-22 Osprey Marks Three Decades of Transforming Military Aviation


During the 30 years since the V-22 Osprey first flew, the tiltrotor aircraft has fundamentally changed how the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force operate in combat and support humanitarian operations. The V-22 has become one of the most in-demand and reliable aircraft in military service with its unique vertical maneuverability combined with the speed, range and fuel efficiency of a fixed-wing airplane.


So far, more than 375 V-22 aircraft have accumulated more than 450,000 flight hours across a spectrum of missions. Soon, the U.S. Navy will begin using a new V-22 variant to deliver personnel and cargo to its aircraft carriers, becoming the latest operator leveraging the aircraft’s unique capabilities.


Over the last 30 years, the V-22 has reshaped power projection, assault support and special operations airlift. Since that first flight in Arlington Texas, the V-22 has proven its worth on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and around the world. Thirty years later, now a networked platform, still with unmatched speed and battlespace reach, the V-22 continues to enable global power projection and worldwide crisis response on a scale never before possible. “The U.S. Services and our allies look forward to the next 30 years of V-22s dominating the battlefield,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Matthew Kelly, V-22 Joint Program manager.


28 May/June 2019


The V-22 has deployed to operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait; and participated in humanitarian operations including earthquake relief in Haiti and Japan, and hurricane response in the United States. Military leaders continue to find new uses for the V-22. The missions it performs include airborne command and control, airborne fleet logistics, combat search and rescue, and special operations support, among others.


“The Osprey continues to prove that tiltrotor technology has many benefits for operators challenged in the toughest environments. The V-22 enables operations in a way that was not previously possible. The high demand for Ospreys is a signal that the aircraft is essential for customers around the world,” said Chris Gehler, vice president, Bell V-22 Program and deputy program director, Bell Boeing V-22.


The V-22’s unique tiltrotor design means the aircraft takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies as a propeller-driven aircraft. These characteristics offer


Lockheed Martin’s 360-Degree Pilot Visual System Completes First Flight On Bell V-280 Valor


Lockheed Martin’s Pilotage Distributed Aperture Sensor (PDAS) system took flight for the first time aboard the V-280 Valor, Bell Helicopter’s next-generation tiltrotor aircraft, in a series of March flights over Fort Worth, Texas. PDAS is a multi- functional sensor system that generates high-resolution, 360-degree imagery around the aircraft to enhance situational awareness for pilots and other users.


The PDAS system captured complete spherical infrared imagery while operating in a high-speed, tactically relevant flight environment and generated real-time imagery.


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tactical flexibility to deploy with a smaller logistical footprint and without a runway to access areas that are unreachable with any other aircraft. Major production locations are Philadelphia and Amarillo, Texas, with Rolls-Royce producing the aircraft’s two engines in its Indianapolis facility. The V-22 industry team is not only producing new aircraft, but it is also working with the Marine Corps to reduce the number of aircraft configurations and simplify designs for readiness improvements for the active V-22 inventory.


“Conducting PDAS flight tests on the V-280 is an exciting first step toward delivering a level of situational awareness unavailable on today’s Army rotorcraft,” said Rita Flaherty, strategy & business development vice president at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “With its embedded, multi-functional sensors, PDAS is the ideal foundation for an integrated survivability suite that will enable Army aircrews to own any environment and universally detect and defeat incoming threats.”


Specifically designed for current and future vertical lift aircraft, PDAS consists of six infrared sensors distributed around the aircraft linked to aircrew helmets and cockpit displays via an open-architecture processor.


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