Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
The independent panel formed to recommend a future course for the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor programme will advise US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to cut production to "the bare minimum" so that production funding can be shifted to correct major design deficiencies plaguing the aircraft.
The panel was formed in the wake of two fatal MV-22 crashes last year that killed 23 marines. US Marine Corps accident investigators ruled that the 8 April 2000 accident was the result of the rotorcraft entering a vortex ring state. The probe into the 11 December crash discovered flaws in the aircraft's hydraulic system and a software anomaly (Flight International, 10-16 April). The USMC wants the tiltrotor fixed before it enters operational service.
The panel says the programme should not proceed as originally planned, be cancelled or replaced by an existing helicopter or a new development. Their final report is to be delivered to US defence chiefs on 24 April in time for congressional hearings set for 1 May.
The panelists conclude that there are no inherent design flaws in the tiltrotor design. Norman Augustine, the former Lockheed Martin chairman, says: "[We] found nothing fundamentally wrong with the tiltrotor concept that defies the laws of physics."
The panel's chairman, retired marine Gen John Dailey, says the V-22's combat effectiveness has been validated, but he will recommend "a minimum sustainable production rate" in the near term with funds diverted to correct design deficiencies. He suggests that accelerated, firm-fixed price, multi-year procurement be implemented to limit cost growth in the restructured programme.
The "troubled V-22 is not ready for operational use", says Augustine. "We must get back into the engineering mode and test, test, test." Dailey adds: "This airplane can do the job. It can be made to work."
At stake is a $40 billion procurement of 360 MV-22Bs for the USMC, 50 CV-22As for the air force and 48 HV-22s for the navy.
Training and simulation specialist CAE has joined Team Cormorant to bid for the Canadian Forces' C$2.9 billion ($1.9billion) Maritime Helicopter Programme (MHP) to replace ageing SikorskyCH-124/A Sea Kings. CAE joins AgustaWestland, Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing in Team Cormorant, which is proposing the EH101 helicopter for the MHP. Meanwhile, CAE and Agusta are teaming up to offer training for all Agusta helicopters.Source: Flight International
