Few planes have upended military operations on their head as the V-22 Osprey has. Suspended in mid-air precariously at the tip of a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft, it can take off vertically, before forward-tilting its massive rotors to soar like a turboprop airplane.
Decades of development, redesigning, and experimentation finally led to it being produced for U.S. Marine Corps duty in 2007. It has since then consistently demonstrated itself on missions wherein the standard aircraft would’ve been too slow, short-ranged, or simply just plain incapable.
Osprey’s benefit is that it’s a do-all aircraft. It can leave a jammed ship flight deck or landing strip, change to aircraft mode, and travel hundreds of miles in the time it would take a helicopter minutes. It can land Marines on remote shores, transport vital equipment hundreds of miles, or retrieve troops from hot areas in the wink of an eye. As one Marine pilot called it, it has “the best of both worlds.”
It is not an independent American operation. Japan, the second country to fly the Osprey, has made it the centerpiece of its Ground Self-Defense Force mobility concept. Public demonstrations, such as the “Elephant Walk” at the Kisarazu Air Show, show Japan’s fleet bunched up even on off-days.
After the initial safety issues were solved, Japan has continued to add more Ospreys to their fleet at a steady pace, demonstrating the importance of the plane to their operations.
Osprey has also established coalition relationships. US and Japanese naval and land troops train together to become effective amphibious assault forces so that equipment and troops function in unison. Australia is now entering the combination with the use of the aircraft for exercises like the Wet and Dry Exercise Rehearsal (WADER) on HMAS Adelaide. All such training combined involves everything from deck landing to ship-to-shore and synchronization of logistics, to render allied forces mission-capable.
Its ability is not only in the transport of troops and gear. In exercises, Marine MV-22Bs have employed sonobuoys to augment anti-submarine support to offset capability shortfalls with existing older patrol air assets and prove tiltrotor value in addressing capability shortfalls. The question is now no longer whether Marines can facilitate undersea warfare but how best to use them, a Navy officer said.
And of course, flying the Osprey has not been without its bumps. It’s had crashes, mechanical failures, and reliability problems as part of its history. One of its worst complaints, or “hard clutch engagement,” will suddenly lose lift and leave planes grounded for hours at a time before being fixed. Maintenance cycles and inspection procedures have tightened up since then, but flying the plane continues to walk the line between hanging by its fingernails.
Flying the Osprey is also unlike flying a conventional helicopter. Controls are varied, and pilots making the switch from the Osprey to civilian tiltrotors like the Leonardo AW609 will need to be taught differently. Newer models, therefore, like the Bell V-280 Valor are include more conventional helicopter controls so that it is easier to train and equip more tiltrotor pilots with the ability.
No longer will tiltrotors be a military monopoly. The AW609 will also be the world’s first commercially certified tiltrotor airplane to transport business commuters from the heliport and fly like an airplane. For office workers, it will translate into faster, more efficient commutes without idling by airports with improved performance in adverse weather conditions.
The Osprey legend is a story of determination and innovation. Out of adversity at the start to being the passport to future mobility, it shows that tiltrotors can accomplish what helos and fixed wings cannot. Whether airlifting troops into the heat of battle, conducting disaster relief, or opening up a new chapter in civilian air travel, the technology is only beginning to show what it can accomplish.