The V-22 OSPREY aircraft, which has crashed many times during test flights, is regaining its good name in combat conditions. However, not everyone still believes that it is worth the money spent on it.
Joe Pappalardo
MV-22 at the Marine Corps aircraft stand (Miramar Air Force Base). Propeller blades are folded down to take up less space
Captain Art Guzman, nicknamed Papi, walks through the hangar of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego without looking around. This serious man with a hard, angular face is completely focused on the tasks that await him during the day. It seems that he will not even wince if someone shines a tennis ball right on his forehead. Guzmán must drop 4 tons of high-octane aviation gasoline 150 kilometers north, passing over the peaks of the Chocolate Mountains. The flight is only 20 minutes. Half an hour after landing, two Marines who will fly in on the same plane will turn an unremarkable patch of desert into a gas station for Cobra attack helicopters. In this area firing of live rockets is planned.
Such work and such flights are just an ideal task for Guzman. The MV-22 Osprey aircraft is capable of carrying 9 tons of cargo or two dozen fighters on board. No other helicopter at the disposal of the Marine Corps will be able to deliver such a quantity of fuel so quickly. The V-22 flies twice as fast as the twin-rotor CH-46E Sea Knight, and its payload is almost three times larger.
The unique advantages of the Osprey aircraft are given by its rotary propellers. They are capable of generating both lift and horizontal thrust. As a result, the Osprey can hover in place like a helicopter. A pair of Rolls-Royce AE 1107C-Liberty engines (each delivering 6,150 horsepower per shaft) are housed in nacelles at the very ends of the wings. These 11.4 m propeller gondolas turn from 0 to 96 degrees in just 12 seconds. “Every time I go in helicopter mode,” says Guzman, “I always lack speed.”
Two Ospreys were dispatched for today's task. They're from the VMM-161 (Gray Kites) squadron, which is preparing for operations in Afghanistan, so the guys need to fly a lot of training hours. Under leaden skies that are about to burst into rain, co-pilot Guzman and the airfield mechanics team prepare the craft for takeoff. And now the propellers begin to spin, and the air they accelerate draws intricate patterns on the puddles.
Expenses and income
In modern history, not a single military aircraft did not cause as much discussion as Osprey. It is both a marvel of engineering and a target for ridicule. He's mocked by hardcore bloggers and serious politicians alike, but pilots and military commanders acknowledge he's revolutionized the very notion of airmobility. In general, no matter what anyone says, but the plane will live. Both the Marines and the Air Force Special Operations Command use this device, so more than one Osprey will enter the troops in the coming years.
A tiltrotor is a complex machine. The wings are lined with miles of piping for fuel and hydraulic fluids, and the fuselage is strong enough to withstand the strain of two 437kg engines. Let's add one more trick to this: the propeller blades are folded so that the Osprey can be based on aircraft carriers.
The development of the device lasted for 30 years, and all these years the project was followed by a trail of troubles - either leaking hydraulics, or fires on board, and in certain situations, instability in flight. This ill-fated program was not without loss of life: during the tests, three crashes occurred in which 30 Marines died. Over and over again, engineers identified and corrected flaws in the design of this aircraft, but the press quickly ran out of patience, and she declared this project a true villainy. Attacks on the plane peaked in 2007, when it was called the "Flying Infamy" on the cover of Time magazine.
The wounds have not healed to this day. Last year, an editorial in the New York Times rated the machine as "unsafe" and "prone to malfunction."
On the other hand, since 2007, the use of Osprey vehicles has demonstrated sufficient safety even in the most adverse flight conditions imaginable. There has been only one combat loss: in 2010, in Afghanistan, an Air Force CV-22 overshot its landing zone, hit a wheel in a ditch and rolled over. As a result, four of the twenty people on board were killed. “Over the course of a decade, the Osprey proved to be the safest combat rotary aircraft ever used by the active military,” confirms Richard Whittle, author of The Dream Machine – The Untold Story of the Infamous CV-22 Osprey.
Osprey has already demonstrated its advantages in the course of hostilities. Compared to the Sea Knight helicopter, Osprey not only lifts significantly more cargo, but is also capable of carrying it four times as far. In addition, both the special forces and the marines have already evaluated the speed of the tiltrotor, which is considered one of the most significant parameters.
In 2010, during a raid in Afghanistan, a helicopter crashed and dozens of commandos came under mortar and machine-gun fire. Helicopters sent to help were forced to return, stopped by dust storms and the high peaks of the Hindu Kush, and only two CV-22s made a rescue sortie with a shoulder of 1200 km. To fly over the mountain range, they had to climb to a height of 4500 m. As a result, 32 American fighters were rescued in less than four hours. A year later, the pilot of an F-15 that crashed in Libya was picked up by an MV-22 tiltrotor that took off from the deck of an amphibious assault ship. Naval aviation pilots delivered the unsuccessful pilot to their base, located 240 km from the accident site, and all this took only 30 minutes.
US Air Force Major Brian Luce, a pilot from the 8th Special Forces Squadron, flew tiltrotor aircraft in Afghanistan and saw with his own eyes how, getting acquainted with this technique in practice, skeptics turned into enthusiasts. “Some people looked at our devices with doubt,” he says, “but then, flying with us, they saw that from point A to point B on the Osprey can be reached in record time.” According to Luce, the merits of convertiplanes were quickly convinced both in the operational command and among staff officers. “The CV-22's speed and range never cease to amaze,” he says. “The command understands this and plans its tactics and its operations based on our capabilities.”
True, all these advantages are very expensive. The cost of R & D for the CV-22 was originally estimated at $39 billion, but independent experts believe that the final amount will be 43% higher and reach 56 billion. The price of $100 million per car (including the cost of design work) is the target for which everyone beats and is not lazy when it comes to cutting the military budget. Established a couple of years ago, a bipartisan commission on the budget deficit, in the list of items on cost savings, proposed the cessation of the production of convertiplanes.
In the budget proposed by the White House for 2013, the production of these aircraft is cut by 24 pieces (98 instead of 122). However, the mere fact that the tiltrotor somehow survived this campaign to cut the budget confirms that its reputation among the military continues to grow steadily. The advantages of the V-22 are hard not to appreciate, but still many questions about it remain open.
Departure canceled
Coming out of the hangar, Guzman looks gloomily at the darkening sky. A cold downpour is coming. An F/A-18s aircraft flying from the base reported the fact of icing in the cloudy zone at altitudes from 1.5 to 4.7 km. This cloud array overlaps a predetermined route that runs over the Chocolate Mountains (the pilots simply call them "the hill").
On most of the convertiplanes in this squadron, anti-icing systems do not work. Flight is in question.
“There is very little ice up there, and it will not interfere with our work in any way,” says Guzman. “I can easily jump 5 km and cross over to the other side of the hill.”
Late last year, the Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation Division noted in a report that from June 2007 to May 2010, Osprey aircraft serving the Marine Corps averaged a mere 53% readiness to take off.
“Yes, it’s not easy for airfield teams to keep them in working order,” says VMM-161 commander Lt. Col. Eric Gillard. “But people often just don’t understand that the V-22 represents a giant leap forward.”
Guzman walks out to the parking area and heads for his machine. Climbs through the door behind the cockpit and enters the cargo area. There is no way to get through - there is a chest-high fuel container, a pump, twisted hoses are laid. This is the temporary gas station for Cobra helicopters. All the walls of the cargo hold are streaked with tightly-stretched bundles of uncovered wires and hydraulic hoses.
Guzman enters the cockpit, nods to his partner, sits in the right seat and connects the intercom. The radio immediately brings unpleasant news - one of the "birds" will no longer work on this task - its auxiliary power unit has gone haywire. Another MV-22 will be brought up later. “It happens,” says Guzman, “and not infrequently.”
A pair of engines shakes the craft as it prepares for takeoff. Graphite-fiberglass blades flicker past the cockpit windows, turning the air into a dark gray mess. With his left hand, Guzman shifts the pitch-throttle lever (he controls the angle of attack of the blades), and, almost without a flinch, the MV-22 takes off into the gray sky. Sturdy-looking windshield wipers knock down streams of rainwater from the glass as the machine climbs to a height of 450 m. A few seconds later, Guzman reaches a finger over the steering wheel to the wheel that controls the angle of the engine nacelles.
Osprey goes into airplane mode. The gondolas are deployed horizontally, now creating not lift, but translational thrust. In this configuration, Osprey soars to a height of 4.5 km, goes around the very edge of the thunderstorm system and moves further east. The pilot is looking for a gap in the clouds through which it would be possible to slip through to safe heights in terms of icing on the other side of the mountain range. But the clouds thicken, and the rain hits the windshield more and more, and the car climbs higher and higher to pass over the ridge. Visibility was reduced to a few meters. “In principle, you can hardly expect heavy air traffic here,” Guzman says to the co-pilot, “but still, keep your eyes peeled.”
The commander lowers the apparatus to a kilometer height, without taking his eyes off the colorless thick swirling in front of the aircraft. The light never came. “Well, at least we tried,” Guzman says into the microphone.
Somewhere far out in the desert, helicopters now refuel from tanker trucks. “Yes, this plane flies great,” says Guzman, “when it doesn’t mess up.”
Ready for takeoff?
The engineering sophistication that made the Osprey a strong player in the sky often calls into question the aircraft's readiness to perform a combat mission. Arizona Senator John McCain, a staunch critic of the Osprey program, delivered the dubious compliment of the craft: "The V-22 looks great in the sky...when it's not out of service."
Airfield mechanics point out that compared to other designs they have to service, the V-22 should still be considered new. Take the Sea Knight, for example – it has been flying since the 1960s, and airfield crews have accumulated vast experience in maintaining it. In the case of the V-22, everything is completely different. “This is a completely new platform, a new airframe, and not too many people have had time to work with it,” explains Senior Sergeant Simon Smith, who maintains the CV-22 at Hurlbert Field near Pensacola, Florida. “For now, we can say that our course of study continues.”
With a folder in hand, he hurried along the aircraft parking of the Hurlbert base, where the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) is located. Now he is all in business - he has a business trip to Afghanistan. “They didn’t even tell me for how long,” he says. “But my backpack is always packed.”
This business trip is Smith's thirtieth in 19 years of service. “Each time we move to another location, our vehicles and their mechanisms are exposed to more and more environmental influences,” he says. “For some reason, Afghan dust accumulates in completely different back streets of the plane where we found dust from Iraq.”
It is these changes that are the main source of all kinds of failures in the operation of convertiplanes. McCain refers to reports from the Pentagon, according to which the V-22 engines in Afghanistan worked out just over 200 hours (according to the military, this figure should have reached at least 500-600 hours). Because of this, the cost of one flight hour more than doubled and exceeded $10,000. The same figure for the twin-rotor CH-46 Sea Knight is only $4,600. But the Osprey was created in order to replace it.
However, Osprey's speed and carrying capacity remain strong trump cards. Whittle recalls the calculations made by the Marines themselves. They decided to take into account the capacity, and it turned out that for a twelve-seat Sea Knight helicopter, the cost of transporting one passenger per mile is $3.17, and for a 24-seat tiltrotor it is only $1.76.
Special operations pilots, like Luce, for example, unanimously argue that airfield teams have become better and better when these devices have become widely used in combat operations. AFSOC does not publish readiness indicators, but at the Hurlbert Field base, where it has long been understood that an eye and an eye is needed for a tiltrotor, its readiness for departures is not particularly satisfactory. “During my last three-month deployment to Afghanistan, we never canceled a single sortie simply because of technical problems,” says Luce. “Airfield teams improve their skills right before our eyes.”
He believes that the meticulous attention to this aircraft is largely predetermined by its high status. “The CV-22 is on everyone's mind, it is perceived as the flagship of AFSOC,” says Luce. “The device cost a lot of money, and everyone wants to see concrete results now.”
Balance between technical capabilities and monetary expenses looks different in paper tables and combat conditions. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. The Osprey is too expensive to mess around with, but it's proven to be so useful that you can't throw it away either.
The article “Tiltrotor Osprey: expensive, unreliable, in demand” was published in the journal Popular Mechanics (No. 7, July 2012).
"Flying shame" is not my definition. Under this title, Time magazine published an article about this miracle weapon. In it, Pulitzer Prize-winning military writer Mark Thompson noted:
V-22 Saga - battles for his future on Capitol Hill; specifications, controversial at best; The Marines' long adventure of trying to get what they want shows how Washington works (or rather doesn't). It exposes the compromises required when narrow interests collided with common sense. This is a story that shows how the system fails in its most important task, putting those who should protect us in undue danger.
Even for its stratospheric price, the V-22 goes into battle unarmed. As a result of decisions made by the Marine Corps over the past decade, aircraft have been left without the powerful weapons needed to suppress enemies on the ground before landing. And if there are problems with the engines in hover mode, due to enemy fire or malfunctions, it will simply collapse, because it does not have the emergency landing capability that saved many lives in Vietnam. In 2002, the Marine Corps abandoned the possibility of an emergency autorotation landing, as helicopters usually do. In a confidential 2003 report, a top Pentagon consultant called this decision "shameless" for a warship.
This article produced a powerful seething in the corresponding military circles, a mass of denials and counter-denials. Although she still quite mildly characterizes this technical misunderstanding. If we look at the history and properties of the V-22 in detail, then more serious claims emerge. It started, as it should be in the USA, everything is very optimistic and promising: in the 80s, a breakthrough project was launched for a universal, multi-purpose tiltrotor that would replace a dozen models of aircraft and helicopters - reconnaissance, electronic warfare, landing, rescue, transport, anti-submarine, etc. .d. He would enter service everywhere - in the army, Navy, US Air Force - in the amount of about 1000 pieces. The revolutionary design promised to combine the advantages of an airplane and a helicopter! It was expected that a combat tiltrotor would fly as fast, high and far as an airplane (which is inaccessible to helicopters in principle), but at the same time it would be able to land on any spot or hover like a regular helicopter. And all this is inexpensive, thanks to its mass character. It could be based on ships, and anywhere. He could carry both paratroopers and military equipment, and at the same time storm targets on the ground, being armed to the teeth. A real prodigy! Well, imagine for yourself: these things could, at the click of a finger, land a crowd of marines with artillery on enemy territory for a thousand kilometers (!!!) in a couple of hours! Well, theoretically. Technically, everything looked quite feasible and was even supported by a flying prototype. Everything is simple and logical - we put engine nacelles swivel by 90 degrees on the plane and voila - it turns into a helicopter with a slight movement. In any case, for the American congressmen, the military and housewives, everything looked exactly like that. Allocated appropriate budgets - and it went. If you look at the idea from an engineering point of view, then unpleasant problems are immediately obvious. Namely: it is impossible, in principle, to put screws of a large "helicopter" diameter on such a device, because they will rest against the fuselage when turning into airplane mode. Yes, and in a horizontal aircraft flight, large propellers interfere, create drag.
So, the propellers will be relatively small, which means they will have low efficiency in helicopter mode. That is, they will require a lot of power, but give little thrust. That is, it immediately turns out that it will be a guaranteed bad plane - its propellers are too large for horizontal flight and a bad helicopter - they are too small to hover. And how did you want? The universal is always worse than the specialized. Further: such an apparatus automatically requires a bunch of all sorts of mechanisms that are unnecessary for ordinary planes / helicopters, complex (and many times redundant!) hydraulics: after all, the gondolas need to be turned. And you also need to fold the wings and propellers so that such a cuttlefish fits on ships. And you also need to synchronize the screws with a long shaft. All this machinery is extra weight, and this despite the fact that we already have screws "do not pull"! This means that you will have to save a lot on something in order to facilitate the construction. Well, for starters, let's make the case out of composites. And what, not bad - thanks to this, they kept within 1800 kg in total, for such a colossus! True, this carbon-fiberglass box is shot through from a machine gun and costs like Abramovich's yacht. Armor is out of the question. Well, how would you like? Wunderwaffles - they are. Extra windows / portholes will also have to be abandoned, there is nothing to weaken the structure. Let the Marines watch cartoons on iPads, what are they looking out the windows for? What are you talking about? look out for the enemy? Well then, land where it obviously does not exist. Moreover, "I won't give you a machine gun, Sukhov": - yes, yes, you still have to give up the bow heavy machine gun, it also, you know, spoils the weight distribution. - you can’t put machine guns in the side hatches - you can shoot off your own engines. - if you want - we will put an infantry pukalka caliber 7.62 in the back on the ramp and that's enough for you. Well, yes, it will be inconvenient to land through the ramp, dust will blow into the cabin - but is it better than nothing at all?
Customers, represented by the military, of course, do not get tired of being indignant and demanding that normal weapons be put on Osprey. Developers do not get tired of offering different options. One of the last ones is to attach a monitor-controlled turret with a 7.62 caliber (IDWS) rapid-fire machine gun to the belly, but it only turned out that this thing takes up a lot of space in the cargo-passenger compartment to the detriment of the landing force, jams when firing, and its sector of fire is also limited by screws, and the shooter is sick when he tries to aim at the monitor. As a result, this system did not gain popularity. In addition to adequate armament, the V-22 developers had to abandon even an adequate life support system. The problem is that in winter or at high altitude it is very cold. And there is low air pressure and little oxygen. Therefore, normal aircraft designed for high-altitude flights always have a sealed cabin, and therefore, for example, our Mi-8 transport has a huge stove:
By the way, with the safety / accident rate of this bird, it turned out quite badly. 1) He cannot, in principle, crash into autorotation (the propellers are too small), which sometimes saves the lives of helicopter pilots. Airplane emergency landing is also a big question. In fact, he does not have any proven methods for escaping the crew in an accident. 2) V-22 was extremely susceptible to a very unpleasant aerodynamic phenomenon - the "vortex ring" (vortex ring). This is when a helicopter propeller generates a toroidal vortex (some smokers can make a similar thing out of smoke) And if the helicopter descends, such a vortex can form around the propeller. In this case, the propeller thrust drops strongly and the helicopter "falls through". This is unpleasant, but usually not catastrophic for a conventional helicopter. This condition does not develop very quickly and the pilot can usually "catch" the dense air and regain thrust. In the case of the V-22, disaster is guaranteed - after all, it rests on two widely spaced propellers, and when one propeller hits the vortex ring, the Osprey immediately falls on its side and falls like a stone. Thus, 2 or 3 aircraft have already been lost!
To avoid such accidents, a bunch of restrictions on operation had to be introduced. For example, V-22 pilots minimize the helicopter mode, for this they fly up to the site like an airplane at speed and convert to land right in front of it. But this is only possible if there is adequate open and level space. In the forest, mountains, city, this trick will not succeed. In addition, they are not allowed to fly closer than 75 meters to each other, they are afraid of strong winds and even updrafts! 3) The complexity of the design also does not contribute to flight safety, as well as resistance to combat damage. In total, 7 pieces have been lost today, which, with their small number and greenhouse use, is a lot. An interesting fact is that the V-22 convertibles are certified for use in the presidential air fleet, but not for the President and members of his family. For journalists, there are all sorts of bureaucrats, he is considered safe enough, but not for the President of the United States, no, David Blaine! How democratic and symbolic. In my stocks already too much, but that's not all! A feature of this tiltrotor is a very powerful, concentrated exhaust, which can raise huge clouds of dust during landing. This dust clogs engines, dramatically reducing their resource, reduces visibility for pilots and paratroopers. It should be especially exciting to land in such conditions when shelling from the ground, with a ramp open at the back (we have a machine gun there, remember?). And do not forget that there are critically few windows for observing the situation on the ground, so the landing paratroopers actually cannot detect and fend off threats. You can enjoy the process here
bell,BoeingV-22Osprey (Osprey) - American multi-purpose tiltrotor with short and vertical takeoff capabilities. The tiltrotor is capable of combining the functionality of a helicopter with the range and speed of a turboprop aircraft.
History of the V-22
On April 24, 1980, after the well-known events of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the hostage-taking, the US special services and the Armed Forces attempted to free the US embassy employees captured in Tehran. It was assumed that US special forces, who arrived by helicopter and planes at one of the abandoned air bases near Tehran, would get to the embassy, free the hostages and leave the country on the equipment waiting for them at the airfield. However, the complexity of the operation and poor preparation led to many tactical and technical difficulties. As a result, the Eagle Clow operation ended in complete failure: the hostages remained in Iran, 8 Americans and one Iranian were killed, 1 aircraft and 1 RH-53 helicopter also burned down, 5 more helicopters had to be abandoned. The failure of the operation resulted in serious consequences in politics, and also led the US military leadership to a number of unpleasant conclusions.
It became clear that at such a distance, for the successful implementation of the operation, transports were needed that could quickly fly a considerable distance. For this, C-130s were used. However, such aircraft could not take off from an aircraft carrier, and they also needed an airfield, the capture of which led to failure. On the other hand, more flexible helicopters, again, also did not allow the mission to be completed (they flew far and long and, upon arrival, they needed refueling. It was necessary to create a fundamentally new universal transport capable of absorbing the properties of both aircraft and For some time, the Pentagon and the US Navy doubted the prospects of the project, however, the extreme interest in such a machine from the Marine Corps, as well as pressure from Congress did their job.In 1981, the JVX (Joint-service Vertical take- off/landing Experimental).
The Joint Commission for the JVX, composed of representatives from the Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy and Army, was formed in 1983. Both the American Bell, Boeing, Grumman and Lockheed, as well as the French Aerospatiale and the British Westland, participated in the tender for the creation.
With scarce resources, Bell immediately teamed up with Boeing on the project. The volume of work was divided approximately equally. Bell handled the wing, nacelle, rotors, drives, empennage, stern ramp, as well as Rolls-Royce engine integration and final assembly. Boeing was responsible for the fuselage, cockpit, avionics and control systems. In 1986, a $1.71 billion contract was announced with the Navy.
The first V-22 prototype was rolled out in May 1988. However, the tiltrotor had difficulties - the Army withdrew from the project, and friction in Congress almost led to the closure of the program due to a sharp increase in cost.
The prototype V-22 made its first flight in March 1989. In December 1990, prototypes began to be tested at sea from the helicopter carrier USS Wasp. It was not without problems: in 1991-92, prototypes No. 4 and 5 crashed. After the disasters, significant design modifications were carried out to facilitate and increase the safety of piloting. Tests and modifications continued until 1999, when the assembly of the pre-production batch was started. However, in 2000 there were new accidents in which 19 Marines died. Changes were needed again. The V-22 proved to be so innovative that the developers often came up with solutions to problems only on the experience of accidents. In fact, the V-22 was recognized as completely safe and ready for free operation only by 2005 - the tests were officially completed.
In 2005, the V-22 Osprey was put into service - the Pentagon officially approved mass production with a plan to produce up to 48 vehicles per year. In total, it was planned to produce 458 convertiplanes - the approximate cost of a unit is estimated at $ 67-73 million.
Compilation of video flights of V-22 Osprey tiltrotor
V-22 design
The V-22 Osprey is the world's first serial tiltrotor equipped with two main rotors capable of changing the thrust vector from vertical to horizontal. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifies the V-22 as a VTOL aircraft.
About 43% of the airframe design, as well as propeller blades, are made of composite materials.
During operation, it turned out that the exhaust jet of turboprop engines overheats and damages the decks of aircraft carriers. Protective screens are used as a temporary solution, however, in the future it is planned to cover the decks with special heat-resistant coatings (given that the same problem is associated with the operation of ships).
Engines
V-22s are powered by two Rolls-Royce AE 1107C (aka T406) engines. The power plants are connected to each other through the wing, which makes it possible to carry out a controlled descent in case of failure of one engine (the thrust of one engine is not enough to continue the flight). In 2013, Rolls-Royce announced an upgrade to the AE 1107C engine with a 17% power increase. The General Electric GE38 engines were also offered for the V-22.
Avionics
The V-22 features an all-glass cockpit with four multi-functional displays and one single screen for displaying general information such as maps, images, videos, and more.
Operated by a triple redundant remote control system (fly-by-wire). In case of damage, the on-board computer automatically isolates the damaged elements and replaces their functions.
Armament
The V-22 can be equipped with M240 and M2 machine guns mounted on the tail ramp (the machine gunner can fire at targets with the ramp down). Also, it is planned to equip with three-barreled GAU-19 machine guns designed by Gatling under the fuselage at the bottom of the cockpit. BAE Systems also offered the installation of a remotely controlled (from the tiltrotor cabin) machine gun mount, however, tests of this system in Afghanistan showed that the system was not very effective (with a weight of 360 kg).
In the future, it is proposed to expand the capabilities of the V-22 with the installation of most of the combat systems available for American combat helicopters, including missiles and bombs (AGM-114 Hellfire, AGM-176 Griffin, GBU-53/B SDB II).
Modifications
- V-22A- a series of pre-production prototypes. After a redesign in 1993, it gave way to the next version.
- CV-22B- Version for the US Special Operations Command (US SOCOM). Modification with increased range and equipped with special equipment. Designed to replace special versions of the MH-53 Pave Low helicopters.
- MV-22B- U.S. Marine Corps version. It was the USMC that was the main lobbyist for the V-22 project. Assault modification for transporting infantry, equipment and weapons, as well as capable of working from ships. Should replace the CH-46E and CH-53D fleet.
- CMV-22B– version for providing logistical connection. Equipped with additional fuel tanks and equipment for the transport of goods, mail, spare parts, etc.
- EV-22- proposed version of the airborne early warning and control system. A variant for the Royal Navy of Great Britain was studied.
- HV-22- a modification created by order of the US Navy. Search and rescue tiltrotor, also used for fleet logistics and transportation of special groups.
- SV-22 - anti-submarine tiltrotor.
V-22 operation
In 2014, more than 200 V-22 Osprey convertiplanes were produced. Most of them are located in the park of the US Marine Corps, as well as the US Air Force. In the future, the possibility of orders from the fleet is being considered. The possibility of supplying tiltrotor aircraft is potentially being considered:
India - for special forces, the United States demonstrated the capabilities of low-altitude piloting of the V-22 in the mountains during the aftermath of the earthquake in Nepal in 2015. The Indian Aviation Research Center became interested in the car.
Israel - is considering the purchase of a limited number of convertiplanes (up to 6 units) for special forces.
Japan - the possibility of purchasing up to 17 V-22 convertiplanes for the Defense Army is being considered. Deliveries until 2019. For 2015, the Japanese army already has several vehicles.
Republic of Korea - is considering the possibility of purchasing a limited number of convertiplanes for special forces.
Incidents
April 9, 2010 - CV-22B - crashed in Afghanistan 11 km from the city, performing a combat mission. The cause of the fall was a technical malfunction. 4 people died.
On April 11, 2012, a V-22 tiltrotor with US Marines on board crashed in southern Morocco. As a result of the crash, two people died and two were injured. The crash occurred during a joint US-Moroccan military exercise.
June 13, 2012 - MV-22B - in Florida, a tiltrotor crashed during a training flight. Five crew members were injured.
June 21, 2013 - MV-22B - completely destroyed by fire, at an unnamed location on the US Atlantic coast, as a result of a grass fire at the landing site. The fire from the grass spread to the fuselage. No harm done.
August 26, 2013 - MV-22B, Nevada - destroyed in a fire after a hard landing near Creech Air Force Base during a training flight. The crew of 4 people was not injured and managed to leave the aircraft before it caught fire.
May 17, 2015 - An MV-22B makes a hard landing during an exercise in the US state of Hawaii. The incident took place near the air base on the island of Oahu. On board the MV-22 Osprey, there were 21 people, including 15 Marines and four crew members. As a result of the accident, one person died, the rest were taken to the hospital.
Original taken from masterok in the Bell-Boeing V22-Osprey tiltrotor. Why is Japan against?
News of the last days:
More than 100 thousand people today took part in a protest action against the deployment of the American tiltrotor MV-22 "Osprey" / MV-22 Osprey / on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. The demonstration took place in one of the parks in the city of Ginowan.
The protesters demanded that the Japanese government refuse to allow the US military command to deploy the Osprey at US air bases in Okinawa due to security concerns. "We can't afford to live in such danger that this apparatus could fall on our heads from the sky at any moment," Okinawa Prefectural Assembly Chairman Masaharu Kina said during his speech at the rally. The demonstrators recalled a series of incidents with the Osprey tiltrotor, the last of which occurred the day before: in North Carolina, a machine of this type was forced to make an emergency landing.
The United States intends from October to place ( and will post, no doubt ) 12 Osprey convertiplanes at the Futenma airbase near the Okinawa city of Ginowan. At the end of July, 12 more machines of this type already arrived in Japan to the Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture. ()
Let's take a closer look at what I've been going against for several months now, the disputes between Japan and the United States.
Clickable
So what happened not so long ago:
The Japanese government is facing difficulties in connection with protests against the planned deployment of Osprey tiltrotor transport aircraft at a US military base in Okinawa Prefecture in southern Japan.
Japan's Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto met with local community leaders in Okinawa and Yamaguchi prefectures to talk about the American plane deployment plan and ask for their assistance.
Before being deployed at the US Marine Corps Air Base Futenma in Okinawa, the convertiplanes will be sent for adjustment and testing at the US military base in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
During the meetings, Morimoto said that the US military would not conduct test flights in Japan until the detailed causes of the recent accidents were clarified.Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima denied Morimoto's request, saying that he has no choice but to ban the deployment of convertiplanes in his prefecture while there are questions about their safety.
And what we read a little later:
American military transport tiltrotor Osprey are on their way to Japan for their planned deployment at the air base US Marine Corps Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture.
The ship, carrying 12 Osprey convertiplanes, left a port in California over the weekend, the US Marine Corps said.
Meanwhile, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba stressed that he will continue to demand that the US refrain from conducting Osprey flights in Japan until they are confirmed safe.
These are the battles that are taking place these days. Well, now we will brush aside all the politics and turn to the technical part of the issue. What are these cars anyway? Helicopters? Aircraft? Non-helicopters? Underplanes? What are their pros and cons! What are the Japanese so afraid of!
The idea of an aircraft that can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like an airplane has always occupied the minds of many aircraft designers. The British aircraft manufacturing company Fairy Aviation Company, which had gained a hand in the development of carrier-based aircraft, began in 1945 to create helicopters. In 1947, the first machine with a three-blade air feint and two pulling propellers on the consoles of a short wing took off. This helicopter-aircraft called "Jayrodine" developed a record speed for that time of 200 km / h in tests.
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In the mid-1950s, the Fairy Aviation Company developed a large passenger model. In addition to her, four more British firms took up the design of promising aircraft that do not require a runway. In 1957, tests of the Rotodyne tiltrotor began, and for the first time Fairy presented it to the public at the Farnborough Air Show in September 1958. The car was of interest to customers, but there was simply not enough money to bring it to a production model. Neither the government nor the customers dared to invest 8-10 billion pounds. As a result, only separate parts remained from the "Rotodine", scattered around the provincial museums. But this tiltrotor even then reached a speed of 400 km / h, while the absolute speed record for helicopters was set only almost 30 years later, in 1986, on a specially prepared Lynx helicopter from Westland - 400, 9 km/h
The tiltrotor construction boom swept the world in the 1950s and 1960s. By order of the US Navy, Lockheed designed the XFV-1 Salmon vertically taking off carrier-based fighter, and Conver designed the XFY-1 Pogo fighter. The Ryan firm, which built the X-13 tiltrotor, worked for the US Air Force. "Curtis-Wright" built a single X-100, with two rotors, which, after takeoff, turned forward and turned into pulling ones. Both propellers were powered by the same engine.
The Bell company in August 1955 lifted into the air a tiltrotor with two rotary rotors at the ends of the wings of the Bell XV-3 and a 450 hp engine. The fixed wings had a span of 9.54 m, the cabin accommodated four passengers.
In the Soviet Union, in the early 1960s, an experimental series of Ka-22 rotorcraft was built with two main rotors and two turboprop engines. The flight weight of the machine reached 37 tons. However, after several accidents, the car was considered unsuitable and was not allowed into mass production. This is where the history of Russian convertiplanes ended.
The Americans, meanwhile, continued to stubbornly improve their prototypes. Having squandered 30 years and billions of dollars, however, they achieved their goal. The first combat tiltrotor V-22 Osprey was born.
In Russian "Osprey" means "osprey". This is a falcon-like bird of prey that lives near water bodies and feeds on fish. This name is explained by the fact that the machine was originally intended to support the naval forces. The device has a wide short body and narrow wings, which, however, do not serve as bearing planes so much as support the propellers.
The development of an aircraft with rotary engines (originally it was called the XV-15) was started in the United States as early as 1982. Three years later, the project was named V-22 Osprey, and in March 1989, its prototype took to the air for the first time. The main feature of the device is that the blades can rotate not only in a vertical plane, like a conventional aircraft, but also in a horizontal one, like a helicopter. Thus, "Osprey" combines the advantages of these two devices. On the ground, the rotors are located like a helicopter, so the car does not need a run, it starts vertically. In the air, the entire propeller structure turns, and now the device looks like an airplane with enlarged propellers. By June 1991, the Pentagon already had five such aircraft at its disposal, the sixth - already manufactured - was dismantled (obviously, the end " cold war"and the associated limitation of budget allocations). One way or another, but in early 1992, the program was frozen for more than two years.
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In December 1994, the Osprey concept was revised, in connection with the planned transfer of these aircraft to the special services. Bye different kinds The Armed Forces were "transferred" by a promising, but, it seems, in the new conditions, a development that no one really needed, the V-22 remained chained to the ground.
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After some design improvements, four (out of five) Ospreys took to the air again only in 1997-98. The take-off weight of these vehicles was significantly reduced - up to 14,800 kg. (empty), which was achieved by replacing the titanium cockpit frame with aluminum, the tail compartment was almost completely replaced. The slewing motors have been modified to achieve maximum weight reduction.
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Almost simultaneously, work began on a new, upgraded version of this aircraft, called the MV-22B, which first flew in April 1999. The speed of the updated Osprey reached 633 km / h, the maximum flight altitude is 7,620 meters, and the payload is almost 13 tons. Since the beginning of 2000, four MV-22Bs have been undergoing practical tests on the Essex amphibious assault helicopter carrier, and one more has been temporarily assigned to the 58th Special Operations Wing (Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico).
The authority of the tiltrotor was undermined by two disasters and increased cost. The first Osprey crashed in April 2000. Then 19 soldiers were killed. The cause was attributed to pilot error. The second, an Air Force version of the MV-22, crashed in December, killing 4 people. A five-month investigation revealed that there were problems with the hydraulic system and the on-board computer software.
They arose even at the previous stage of testing, but the military, in charge of the tiltrotor creation program, were silent about this. Moreover, they signed documents in which the test results were frankly "corrected". The Pentagon did not name the officers, but said they received disciplinary action.
The tests were stopped for 17 months. During this time, significant amendments were made to the design, which caused its rise in price. If initially the car was estimated at 40 million dollars, then after the improvement its cost reached 71 million dollars. However, the manufacturers claim that large-scale production the cost will drop to $58 million.
In 2005, the V-22 Osprey entered service. In total, the procurement program provides for the purchase of 410 convertiplanes, of which 50 will receive the Air Force, and 360 - the US Marine Corps. The total value of the contract for the production of these machines is 50.5 billion dollars. Congress has not yet approved such spending, but the command of the Marine Corps ordered the training of crews so that as soon as the new vehicles enter service, they will immediately be used. So far, the Boeing Company has received an order for only 11 serial vehicles worth $817 million.
Another $1 billion contract was awarded to Bell Helicopter for the supply of long lead components for the production of 16 V-22 convertiplanes through September 2009. 14 kits are intended for the production of the MV-22 modification for the naval forces, and 2 for the CV-22 in the Air Force version with delivery in 2007.
In 2005, the US Navy received the first Project LPD 17 assault landing ship, the San Antonio. Ships of this class in the future will replace a whole line of various landing craft and will become the basis of US amphibious assault formations. The San Antonio carries two special landing hovercraft, 17 amphibious armored personnel carriers and, most importantly, Osprey convertiplanes.
In March 2006, the Pentagon received the first combat tiltrotor MV-22 Osprey.
The first MV-22B unit should become combat ready in May 2007. In 2009, the CV-22 Block 10 will be put into operation. In the same year, the development of a more advanced modification of the machine, the MV-22 Block C, will begin, their deliveries will begin in 2012. It will be followed by an even more advanced modification - Block 20. In total, the US Marine Corps plans to receive 360 MV-22 vehicles, and the Air Force - 20 SM-22. The main purpose of the tiltrotor is to bring special forces into the rear of the enemy and ensure their operations. Osprey became the world's first mass-produced tiltrotor.
Since the tiltrotor will have to be based on limited-sized sites, folding propellers and wings reduce its width on the ground to 5.3 m. The crew is 2 people. The cargo compartment can fit 24 paratroopers. Composite materials are widely used in the design: carbon fiber, fiberglass, epoxy glue - up to 70% of the parts. Thus, it was possible to reduce the weight of the tiltrotor by 25% compared to the all-metal one. The propellers with a diameter of 11.6 m are made of fiberglass.
Two Allison gas turbine engines with a capacity of 4586 kW (6150 hp) are located at the ends of the wing and can turn 98 degrees. Width "Osprey" with deployed wing - 25.78 m at the ends of the blades. Fuselage length - 17.48 m. Height along the vertical stabilizer - 5.38 m, with vertically mounted engines - 6.73 m. Empty tiltrotor weight - 6374 kg. The mass of cargo on an external sling is 9 tons. Takeoff weight during vertical takeoff - 21.5 tons. Maximum takeoff weight- 27.4 tons. Speed in airplane mode - 550 km / h, in helicopter mode - 185 km / h. Max speed- 638 km / h. Ceiling - 7900 m. Range - 955 km.
The Osprey aircraft is made according to the normal aerodynamic scheme with an overhead straight wing, a two-fin tail unit and a tricycle landing gear with a front wheel. His airframe has a hybrid design: the power elements are made mainly of aluminum, and 40 percent of the parts are made of composite materials. As a result, the developers managed to reduce the weight of the military-technical vehicle by 1,000 kg, reduce its cost by 22 percent, reduce the number of parts by 36 percent, and the number of fasteners by 34 percent.
The power plant of the aircraft includes two Allison AE1107C turboprop engines installed in rotary nacelles at the wingtips. Engine specifications are shown below. The engine has a modular design and is equipped with a full electronic digital system automatic control FADEC with double redundancy, which ensures a high level of reliability of its operation. To reduce infrared visibility, both engines have an exhaust gas cooling system and shielding of hot engine parts.
There are two gearboxes in the engine nacelle. One is designed to transmit power to the propeller, the other (installed along the axis of the nacelle turning unit) - to drive the synchronization shaft passing through the center section gearbox, on which the alternators are located .. In emergency situations and during ground checks, the latter can be driven by an auxiliary power installation. During normal operation of the engines, each of them transmits its power through the gearbox to the corresponding screw, part of which (about 380 kW) is diverted through the shaft to the generator drive gearbox. In case of failure of one of the engines, the power of the serviceable one automatically increases to 5100 kW. In this case, the generated power is distributed as follows: about 3960 kW is used to drive propellers and up to 1100 kW to drive generators and power supplies for aircraft systems. In the event of failure of both engines, the auxiliary power unit starts to function, which within 30 minutes can rotate both propellers at a speed of 30 percent. less than nominal.
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The fuel system includes four groups of tanks located in the fuselage sponsons and wing consoles. In the immediate vicinity of the nacelles, as well as in the front and rear right sponsons, there are service tanks. In addition, two additional tanks can be installed in the cargo hold. Modifications MV-22 and CV-22 differ in the number of TEs and the total volume of the fuel system. All tanks have a design that ensures no fuel leakage when hit by bullets of up to 12.7 mm caliber and falling from a height of up to 20 m. wing tanks and TB sponsons as fuel is used up, displacing kerosene vapor from them.
The engines consume fuel from service tanks, into which it is injected first from additional tanks, then from the front sponsons, wing fuel tanks, and lastly from the rear right sponson. The fuel generation process is fully automated, but if necessary, the crew can intervene in it. In case of failure of one of the engines, the automation provides fuel from the fuel tank installed on the opposite wing console. The tanks are connected by high-strength fuel lines equipped with automatic valves. Refueling of the fuel system can be carried out in a closed way - under pressure through the tank neck of the rear right sponson, and in an open way - through the necks of each tank. If necessary, fuel from all tanks, except for the consumable one, can be dumped at a rate of 400 kg/min.
The transition from vertical takeoff and hover to level flight takes 12 seconds. During takeoff, the nacelles are deployed vertically, lift and control moments are created by changing the thrust of the engines and the pitch of the propellers. With an increase in the speed of horizontal flight to 180 - 200 km / h, the lifting force and control moments are provided by the oncoming air flow to the aerodynamic surfaces, after which the nacelles are fixed in a horizontal position.
A navigation system is installed on the V-22, including the following equipment: an inertial navigation system (INS), an ARN-147 short-range drive and landing radio system, an ADF (Automatic Direction Finder) aviation radio compass, a radio altimeter, an air signal system and other sensors. The small-sized typical INS LWINS (Lightweighf Inertial Navigation System) provides the navigation complex with data on the aircraft motion parameters (speed, acceleration, altitude, magnetic and true heading, etc.). The AN / ARN-147 short-range drive system provides all the necessary data for the take-off and landing of the MTC in normal weather conditions, and in cooperation with ground systems, provides instrumental landing in difficult weather conditions and at night, and also receives marker signals.
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The V-22 can carry cargo both externally and in the cargo hold. To do this, there are two retractable hooks on the external sling, on each of which the aircraft can carry up to 4,500 kg, and when hanging cargo on two hooks at once, its carrying capacity is 6,800 kg. The cargo compartment can be equipped with a variety of auxiliary devices for the transport of goods or personnel. In the standard configuration, the cabin is equipped with seats for 24 fully equipped Marines. The chairs have three restraint straps and one hand restraint. When transporting goods in the cabin with a total volume of 21 m3, containers with a size of 170x166x625 cm can be placed. The cargo compartment is designed for a load weighing 9,000 kg. When performing the search and rescue task, a winch with a cable 76 m long is installed in it on a removable beam (the maximum load on it is about 270 kg at an overload of 2.5 g, the lifting speed is 0.13 - 1.37 m / s).
The main purpose of the military-technical cooperation MV-22 is the air transfer of personnel and cargo of US MP units during amphibious assault operations. The use of this aircraft significantly increases the mobility of transportation, reduces the landing time and reduces the requirements for the landing area, and also leads to a decrease in the number of losses when overcoming enemy air defenses. Due to the greater range and flight speed of the MV-22 compared to the amphibious transport helicopters SP-46 and SN-53 currently in service with the MP, landing ships can be located at a greater distance from the coastline during a amphibious landing operation.
The current plans of the Air Force Command are to adopt the CV-22 Osprey aircraft into service with the MTR, which should replace the entire fleet of MH-600 and MH-53J helicopters, obsolete MC-130E Kombat Talon-1 aircraft and part of the MH-130P tanker aircraft /N. According to US military experts, the combat radius of this military-technical cooperation with a payload of 18 fully equipped military personnel will be 930 km. Estimated flight profile: short takeoff, flight to the target at the optimum altitude at cruising speed (480 km/h), hovering over it for 15 minutes, flight to the home base at cruising speed and altitude, and vertical landing with standard fuel reserve . A higher flight speed compared to helicopters will allow the use of KS-10A and KS-135 aircraft as regular tankers. The ferry flight range with one in-flight refueling, according to experts, will be 4,900 km.
The avionics of the CV-22 aircraft will additionally include the AN / APQ-174D multifunctional radar, which ensures flights at extremely low altitudes with terrain avoidance, as well as a promising integrated SIRCM (Suite of Integrated Radio Countermeasures) electronic countermeasures system, noise-immune communication and information transmission systems in real time. In addition, for more effective interaction with the ground units of the MTR, the aircraft is planned to be equipped with an information distribution terminal - MATT (Multimission Advanced Tactical Terminal), on the indicator of which, against the background of a digital map of the area, the location of military personnel equipped with personal navigation systems using NAVSTAR data is displayed.
The possibility of placing various weapons on the aircraft, including an automatic cannon on a turret in the forward part of the fuselage, and equipping it with an SD class<воздух — воздух>(on the ventral weapon hardpoints).
And yet, there is an opinion that the tiltrotor is an UN-AIRBORNE and UNDER-HELICOPTER with all the disadvantages arising from these statements.
1. Very expensive device.
2. Technically very complex. That's what happens when the synchronization mechanism is covered.
3. The carrying capacity is less than the Mi26, the speed, however, is greater than that of helicopters, but less than transport aircraft. I don’t think maneuverability with such propellers is sufficient to evade shelling from the DShK
The American side assures that the cause of the Osprey crashes in Morocco in April and in Florida in June of this year was human factor and what happened has nothing to do with the design flaws of these devices. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, in turn, said that his country has no choice about placing convertiplanes on its territory. "This is a matter for the United States," Noda said, citing bilateral agreements between Tokyo and Washington. Nevertheless, the leadership of both countries agreed not to start Osprey flights over Japan until an investigation into the causes of past incidents is completed.
For transportation in the deep rear, it is better to use airplanes - it is not a problem to find airfields there. And for landing / transportation at the forefront it is not suitable against any serious enemy. A very narrow scope - such as our ekranoplanes - are very interesting machines, but have not found their niche.
The engines are placed as targets in the dash. How will he react to a banal bullet from a heavy machine gun hitting him? I don’t ask about the 30mm caliber :) I would not want to be in the place of the one who checks its strength :)
Although, of course, these are all subjective opinions. And what do you think? Maybe, indeed, the Americans were the only ones who were able to bring such a complex technical project to the series, and many simply can’t afford it and can’t afford it?
On March 19, 1989, the first flight of the Osprey, a Bell V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, took place in the United States, in which best qualities military aircraft and helicopters. For a quarter of a century, these unique vehicles have proven themselves more than once in combat operations, taking part in special operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It all started in the Union
The idea of an air hybrid appeared almost a hundred years ago, and the chance to become the creator of a new device received Soviet Union. Back in the 1930s, the famous aviator-designer Boris Yuryev took up the relevant developments, who, together with his team, proposed, in particular, projects for aircraft with a vertical take-off position, as well as rotary wings and propellers. German engineers were doing similar work at the same time. However, fortunately, they failed to bring their child prodigies to realization before the war, and after 1945 this issue disappeared by itself. By the way, some of the German projects of "wonder weapons" were really amazing: for example, the designers planned to make an aircraft with a rotating wing of a game-like shape, which, if necessary, served as a three-bladed propeller.
Large-scale development of convertiplanes in the second half of the 20th century showed that such cunning designs are not required in order for the aircraft to take off from a standstill. It is enough to come up with a way to turn the propellers in flight so that their blades first work like a helicopter in the longitudinal plane, and then like an airplane - in the transverse one. As a result, several variants of such a hybrid appeared. For example, in the "tiltrotor" part of the wing changes position along with the propellers, while the engines remain stationary, while in the "tiltwing" the entire wing rotates, on which the nacelles with motors and propellers are rigidly fixed. At some point, the vector of engineering thought went towards the creation of "rotary wings" (machines with wings and plumage, rotors like helicopters and pulling ones like airplanes) and "tailsitters" (aircraft that could take off from vertical position and literally sit on its own tail). But the project turned out to be the most viable, which was eventually implemented in Skop. It was not the screws that made it turning, but the nacelles with screws and engines located at the wingtips.
Change of priorities
The creation of the V-22 Osprey in the United States began in the 1980s, after the Department of Defense decided to find an alternative to classic vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Although they have already become widespread and were in service, including in the USSR (Yak-38), great amount complaints about the operation of such machines forced the Pentagon to change priorities. Such aircraft are too difficult to pilot, unstable, dangerous, and besides, they cannot compete with conventional aircraft in terms of carrying capacity and flight range. Their disadvantages include high fuel consumption, which, moreover, when burned near the ground, destroys runways.
The solution to the problem was to be the development of a combat tiltrotor, especially since aircraft manufacturers were already taking certain steps in this direction. It was planned to use this machine in the regular troops, the Air Force, the Navy aviation and for the Marine Corps. The main developers of the hybrid were identified by Bell Helicopter and the specialized division of Boeing Corporation, which began full-scale design of the Osprey in 1986. The first company was responsible for the manufacture of dynamic systems, wings, engine nacelles and a number of other elements, the second - for the chassis and fuselage, as well as the integration of on-board electronic equipment, electronic and hydraulic systems.
At first, 2.5 billion dollars were allocated from the state budget for all work, and then the funding was increased to 35.6 billion, which were intended for the purchase of 913 devices. However, later the state order was reduced to 458 convertiplanes. The plans for the first launch of the V-22 Osprey were also adjusted - it was more than six months late. Nevertheless, on March 19, 1989, the car took to the air for the first time, and already in 1990 it was tested at sea, launched from the deck of the Wasp landing ship dock.
However, the process was interrupted by two consecutive disasters. In June 1991, a wiring error caused the hybrid to roll heavily on landing, causing the vehicle to touch the ground on one of the nacelles and burn out from the ensuing fire. And a year later, another tiltrotor broke out due to the ingress of the hydraulic fluid into the engine. If in the first case, two people were injured during the crash, then in the second, 11 crew members died. As a result, flights of the V-22 Osprey were banned, and testing had to be suspended. Moreover, critics of the program insisted that instead of the Osprey, the United States should develop a new aircraft. But the country's government rightly considered that it would cost much more than to bring to mind the existing model.
Bell V-22 Osprey combat helicopter
Approximately the same logic was followed in the Pentagon after two disasters in 2000, in which 23 servicemen were killed. And even when a ban was again imposed on flights, they did not stop building individual prototypes of convertiplanes, simultaneously making numerous changes to their design. The main improvements concerned the design of nacelles and installed software. Much was taken into account by May 2002, when the V-22 Osprey was again allowed to take to the air. Soon, the testers tested these machines for the ability to refuel in the air, fly in formation at low altitude and land in the dark, hover over the decks of ships without heeling and parachute heavy loads weighing about a ton. And in 2005, the military began to evaluate the combat qualities of the vehicles, and in September of the same year, the V-22 Osprey mass production program began in Washington.
In 2006, Ospreys made a non-stop flight across the Atlantic to participate in the Farnborough air show, and in 2007, during six months of operations in Iraq, they transported almost two hundred tons of cargo and 15.8 thousand soldiers. True, it turned out that fine desert sand gets into electrical equipment blocks and can cause short circuits. But the developers were pleased with the ability of cars to escape from danger, sharply gaining altitude and speed - in 10 seconds the hybrid could reach 320 kilometers per hour. In addition, it turned out that the tiltrotor can be heard at a distance of only three kilometers, while the helicopter gave "signals" for 16.
In general, the participation of the V-22 Osprey in operations in Afghanistan was also recognized as successful. It should be noted that it was this car that was involved in transporting the body of the murdered terrorist number one Osama bin Laden from the air base to the aircraft carrier, completing the famous operation "Spear of Neptune". In other words, these hybrids, despite constant criticism due to the high cost of the project, proved their professional suitability. Moreover, there was information in the media that the armies of Israel, Great Britain, Japan and Germany were interested in such convertiplanes.
Faster, higher, stronger
So how does the V-22 Osprey conquer the skies over "hot spots" and successfully hold anti-submarine defenses?
Let's start with the fact that Ospreys are clearly superior in their capabilities to most modern combat helicopters. In particular, in terms of flight range, the tiltrotor has a fivefold advantage over the famous "Sea Knight" Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight. At the same time, the so-called tactical range - 650 kilometers - is simply unthinkable for any other propeller-driven aircraft that cannot be kept so far from the place of direct use. The V-22 Osprey has a higher carrying capacity, is capable of reaching speeds of up to 580 kilometers per hour and climbing to a height of 7.6 kilometers - this is more than twice as fast and higher than the same CH-46.
Tiltrotors have a tricycle retractable landing gear with twin wheels equipped with disc brakes. The wings, as is customary in the aircraft industry, are of the caisson type, mounted on a steel circular support with a diameter of 2.3 meters on the top of the fuselage. This support plays a big role - it allows the wing to turn along the side so that the Osprey, which has landed on the aircraft carrier, takes up as little space as possible. By the way, with reverse side folded - in the truest sense of the word - the wings are folded and the propeller blades, giving the V-22 Osprey even more compactness. Moreover, the entire "assembly" of the crew takes no more than one and a half minutes.
Note that the length of the tiltrotor fuselage - about 17.5 meters - is only three meters more than that of the same "Sea Knight". On the sides there are special fairings, where the main landing gear go and where the elements of the air conditioning system and three fuel tanks are installed (the remaining 10 are in the wing boxes, and the refueling bar is placed on the starboard side of the fuselage). In the bow there is a triple cabin with armored seats, which must withstand the impact of large-caliber bullets (up to 12.7 mm) and a significant overload. In addition to the three crew members, the V-22 Osprey can accommodate a flight engineer and 24 passengers, for the exit of which there is a door on the front right side of the fuselage. By the way, it is very original: it consists of two reclining sections, and the upper one, when opened, goes inside the cabin, and the lower one - with a built-in ladder - out. Finally, in the rear of the fuselage, there is a powerful two-fin plumage and a stabilizer.
Bell V-22 Osprey combat helicopter
For all occasions
As for the rotary nacelles, they can deviate from their axis by 97 degrees due to a screw-driven hydraulic motor. The nacelles themselves contain Rolls-Royce T406-AD-400 gas turbine engines with a capacity of 6150 horsepower. They are equipped with durable three-blade propellers made of an alloy based on graphite and fiberglass, a 14-stage axial compressor, an annular combustion chamber, two-stage turbines - gas generator and power, as well as a digital control system, which is backed up by a backup analog one.
It should be noted that in case of failure, it seems that all Osprey's working systems are duplicated. So, the flight control system and the inertial navigation system have triple redundancy, three hydraulic ones are installed, including two main and one additional, four alternators work at once in the electrical system. In the event of an emergency stop of one of the engines, the power of the second engine is automatically increased, due to which the propeller drive continues to operate smoothly. But even if the second engine fails, the crew will have another 30 minutes to rescue - during this period, the auxiliary power unit will rotate the propellers.
There are weapons on the V-22 Osprey. The M240 machine gun, which is popular in the United States, is considered to be the base one, firing up to 950 rounds per minute with 7.62 mm cartridges. At the same time, remote-controlled defensive systems of circular firing RGS, which are mounted with a GAU-17 Minigun machine gun on an external sling under the fuselage, began to be installed on the new convertiplanes. The shooter controls the process with the help of a joystick, and aiming follows the picture on the monitor, where the signal from the external camera is received.
Much has been done for defense purposes. In particular, both cockpits - both pilots and cargo-passenger - are protected from weapons of mass destruction. Here, according to experts, a slight overpressure is created, and atmospheric air is filtered. In addition, the airborne defense system includes warning receivers for electromagnetic and laser radiation and missile launches, devices for firing heat traps and dipole signal reflectors, as well as a radar system installed in the forward fuselage. Interestingly, the designers also foresaw the situation with enemy bullets getting into the fuel tanks. If necessary, a nitrogen-saturated air generation system will quickly displace kerosene vapor from damaged tanks.
It is worth noting that the V-22 Osprey has become, perhaps, the leader in the number of such "chips" - when finalizing the model, the main emphasis was placed on resistance to various kinds of emergencies. So, if the car touched the ground at a vertical speed of 30 kilometers per hour, the crew may not even feel the impact on the surface - all the collision energy must be extinguished by the chassis, and the nose cone should not collapse due to its special strength even when falling at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour. In the event of a landing with horizontally deployed gondolas, fragments of propellers hitting the ground will scatter in the opposite direction from the fuselage, and in case of emergency splashdown, the tiltrotor will remain on the sea surface for 10 minutes - this time will probably be enough to evacuate the crew and passengers.
By the way, the V-22 Osprey scheme has proven itself so much that it has become the basis for the latest American ARES drone robot. It is able to move in the air like a proven tiltrotor, and on the ground it becomes a military 4-seater jeep. So, it looks like there should be a sequel.