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Как там дела с V-22 Osprey ?

ВМС США похоже собираются отказаться от закупки этого чуда

According to the March 19 2001 isue of Aviation Week magazine (page 33) the
USA Navy has informed the Marine Corps it no longer intends to acquire 48
V-22's (designated HV-22's) for search and rescue fleet logistics and special
operations missions. Instead the Navy will use more of the Sikorsky H-60
copters for these medium lift missions.

(This lowers the planned total buy of V-22's to about 400 by the Marines and
Air Force if the program is indeed continued after the current 4-month
grounding and would thus raise unit costs to around $75 million each).

А теперь о ВВС США эти тоже сомневаются

(From Aviation Week magazine January 29 2001)

V-22 Support Fades Amid Accidents Accusations Probes

ROBERT WALL/WASHINGTON

The second largest customer for Bell Boeing's V-22 tiltrotor the U.S. Air
Force Special Operations Command is reconsidering its commitment to the
system in the wake of technical problems and revelations about
maintenance irregularities that have thrown the program into turmoil.

Pentagon officials said there is increasing concern
about the V-22 within the Air Force. However service officials have not
yet decided whether to drop out. Two development CV-22s the special
operations version of the Osprey are among the aircraft still grounded
after the Dec. 11 crash of an MV-22 in which four Marines died.

LOSING AFSOC SUPPORT would be an immense blow to the V-22's main proponent
the Marine Corps and not only because it could further undermine confidence in
the program. The loss--reducing the tiltrotor procurement by 50
aircraft the number AFSOC plans to buy--would increase the $66-million
average cost of the aircraft. Some say the cost is actually higher
although the Marines quote a lower price.

Signs that confidence in the
program is waning also could be detected last week in Congress. Sens.
John Warner (R-Va.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) the senior members of the
Senate Armed Services Committee wrote Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld that "this program will not be able to move forward unless and
until the Defense Dept. has restored confidence in the integrity of the
V-22 program and the people managing it."

Additionally the Senators
asked Rumsfeld to order-up an investigation into charges that the
Marines falsified V-22 maintenance records. The tip came from an
anonymous mechanic at the V-22 training squadron VMMT-204 who stated
that the squadron commander Lt. Col. O. Fred Leberman ordered the
doctoring of information to improve the aircraft's poor reliability
rate. The Marines dispatched a team of eight to Marine Corps Air
Station New River N.C. home of VMMT-204 to investigate and they
relieved Leberman who now faces the possibility of a courts-martial. He
was replaced by Marine Col. Richard H. Dunnivan. The senators called on
Rumsfeld to ensure the allegations would be reviewed independent of
other examinations of the program which include a blue-ribbon panel set
up by former Defense Secretary William Cohen and two separate accident
investigations. The lawmakers stressed that the latest look should not
involve the Navy Dept. which was investigating the charges. Hearings on
the V-22 are expected later this year once the findings of several of
these program assessments are completed said one congressional staffer.

IN AN UNUSUAL MOVE apparently aimed at defusing the lawmakers' ire the
Marines announced only hours after the senators' announcement that the
Marine Corps Inspector General (IG) investigation into the fraud charges
was being transferred to the Pentagon IG. "While I have complete
confidence that the (Marine Corps) IG and his staff would conduct a
thorough complete and unbiased investigation into these allegations I
am concerned that the nature and gravity of the allegations may invite
unwarranted perceptions of command influence or institutional bias "
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James L. Jones said in a statement. He
added that the Air Force also would benefit more from an independent
investigation. Although much of the recent attention has focused on the
falsification of information perhaps one of the most damning
indictments in the whistle-blower letter was the view that "this plane
is not ready for the fleet." The writer added that "it needs to spend at
least another two years in test with people who will identify the
problems so they can be fixed." The Marines contend the aircraft has
been tested thoroughly and that further efforts aren't needed. But
serious technical issues remain unresolved. That became clear as the
Marines laid out more information from the nearly complete mishap
investigation into the Dec. 11 crash. The accident was caused by a
confluence of technical problems. Essentially a combination of
hydraulics and software failure led to the crash according to Marine
Corps Lt. Gen. Fred McCorkle who oversees Marine aviation. The flight
designated Crossbow-8 was on its final approach into New River about 7
mi. from the airfield. The aircraft was suffering a leak in its No. 1
hydraulic system that drives flight-critical systems such as actuators
changing the angle of the nacelles and swashplate actuators which are
used to control collective and cyclic blade pitch that allow thrust
control when in airplane mode. At the moment the pilot started
converting the aircraft from its forward-flight fixed-wing mode into
helicopter mode for landing the hydraulics failed. The pilot pushed the
rotors from the 90ixed-wing mode they had reached back to full 100Dfixed-wing settings but the aircraft crashed moments later nonetheless.

The V-22 is equipped with a triple-redundant hydraulic system and a
mechanism that is supposed to be able to compensate for hydraulics
problems in one line within 0.3 sec. Hydraulic levels are monitored by
the flight control computers that monitor system pressure reservoir
fluid levels and changes in those levels. If an anomaly is detected a
combination of local switching isolation valve and remote switching
valve are supposed to reroute hydraulics fluid from other systems in
this case the second and third to compensate for the loss in the
primary system. But that emergency system failed because of a software
problem although the Marines wouldn't identify if the faulty logic was
in the flight control computer or another subsystem. Bell has opted for
a less risky hydraulics system in its BA609 civil tiltrotar which will
operate at 3 000 psi. Despite a history of hydraulic problems McCorkle
contends that the fact that the latest crash was associated with
hydraulics doesn't raise questions about the aircraft. "[T]his
hydraulics failure has zero to do with technology with the tiltrotor or
with the MV-22 " he insisted. He said the hydraulics failure was caused
by "a line that was rubbed through." The Marines ruled out that it was
simply a bad hydraulics line but were unwilling to explain how it could
fail after only 160 flight hours.

THE V-22'S HYDRAULIC system has been
a headache for the Marines for some time ( AW&ST Jan. 1 p. 32). It was
the single largest failure item during the 804.5 hr. of operational
testing. The system was designed to operate at 5 000 psi rather than the
more traditional 2 000-3 000 psi. because it allowed for lighter and
smaller components. But it has also made the hydraulic system
leak-prone the Pentagon test officials found. Although the Marines
insist the MV-22 is production ready they are still working on a number
of design changes particularly in hydraulics. Development testing led
to seven immediate changes with four more in the works and additional
fixes being considered. The Marines and the informant both said the
falsified maintenance records had nothing to do with the Dec. 11
accident or one last April in which 19 Marines died. "This is not what
caused the previous two mishaps this year but if it continues it will
cause many more " the anonymous mechanic said. However it is unclear
whether accurate maintenance records may have led to safety-related
design changes on the aircraft.

Returning V-22s to flying status isn't
expected anytime soon noted one Marine Corps official. It would have to
wait at the very least until the IG investigation is almost complete.

©January 29 2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.

Остаются только морпехи главные контракторы Оспрея причем именно они и бьются последнее время на нем уже больше двадцати человек разбились в двух катастрофах.

Эффектный аппарат но уж больно сложный и дорогой даже для США.