No plane has had more impact on the way militaries deploy and fight than the V-22 Osprey. It is a half-helicopter, half-airplane. It can take off straight up from the nose of a landing pad and then flip the enormous rotors around to push itself like a turboprop.
The aircraft was produced for years, avoiding mishaps and overhauls, before finally coming into U.S. Marine Corps use in 2007. It has since had missions that older aircraft weren’t built to accomplish—to decrease speed, too short a range, or just plain not built to complete the task.
The Osprey’s physical beauty is in its dynamic flexibility. It can take off from the deck of an overcrowded ship or small glade, convert to airplane mode, and fly hundreds of miles at much higher speeds than a regular helicopter. It can land Marines on some far-off beach, transport equipment over distance, or pluck people to safety in seconds when seconds count. As one pilot said, describing it, the plane really offers “the best of both worlds.”
It is not an American monopoly. Japan is a close second to invest in the tiltrotor, which it has used as the linchpin of its Ground Self-Defense Force mobility plan. Exercises like the “Elephant Walk” at the Kisarazu Air Show have had the Ospreys flying in tight formation, eight Ospreys remaining together even in the rain. Japan has gradually increased its fleet despite the safety issues at the outset, demonstrating how much it values the aircraft. The Osprey has also been an instrument of reconciliation.
Japanese and American forces have regular exercises in practicing amphibious warfare and have personnel and equipment work alongside each other. Australia is also included in such exercises, and the Osprey has operated onboard in such exercises as Wet and Dry Exercise Rehearsal (WADER) on HMAS Adelaide.
Such coalition exercises consist of ship-to-shore and deck landing, medical planning and logistics, and coalition troops kept prepared at the point of their highest demand. Its capability is also in niche operations. Naval MV-22Bs began deploying sonobuoys on recent anti-submarine training missions, giving the Navy improved peripheral sight below the surface.
Taking on some of the old patrol planes’ tasks, the tiltrotor shows its potential to plug gaps in existing capability. It is no longer a question, one Navy commander argues, of whether or not to insert Marines to assist operations below the waves—but how best to do it.
The plane’s flight has not been easy. Crashes, engine malfunctions, and reliability have pushed the program to its limits. One specific problem, “hard clutch engagement,” creates abrupt loss of lift, making the aircraft unflyable until servicing is done. The issue has been resolved by engineers with increased maintenance tasks and checks, but the Osprey still draws criticism.
Osprey Flight is also a niche piece. It does not behave like traditional helicopters, and it takes retraining to go from it to other tiltrotors like the civilian AW609 to avoid mistakes. The newer generations of aircraft, like the Bell V-280 Valor, will be helicopter-like to pilot, and that will make training easier and bring the tiltrotor platform into more hands.
Tiltrotors are no longer a military preserve in and of themselves. The AW609 will shortly be the world’s first commercially certified tiltrotor to enable business travelers to take off from heliports and travel at airplane speeds. For a business where time equals money, it means faster, more direct flights by air, airport to airport or not, and better performance in weather.
Osprey’s history is one of revolution and endurance. From initial setbacks to a solid cornerstone of contemporary war mobility, it has worked diligently to establish that tiltrotors can accomplish something helicopters and airplanes cannot accomplish alone. Placing soldiers in the field, aiding disaster relief efforts, or establishing new modes of civilian flight, this technology is far from beginning to realize its full potential.
