Tools of War: The MV-22 Osprey

You want it all, but something usually has to give. You say, "Give me speed...and cargo capacity...and fuel-efficiency...and ruggedness...and versatility!" Whether you are looking at a new car for the family (I'd like a Lamboburbanpriuhummer please!) or a combat-hauler, something usually has to give...until now.

The MV-22 Osprey is the follow-on to the aging CH-53, CH-46 family of heavy-lift helicopters, which has been a very effective workhorse. What makes the MV-22 so special, so unique, is the tilt-rotor design. It's rotor nacelles rotate 96 degrees from vertical to horizontal (or any place in between), so the Osprey can take off either like a helicopter or like an airplane, depending on whether a runway is available. Once in flight, it cruises as an airplane to it's destination, where it once again has it's choice of landing modes.

The MV-22 Osprey has been in development for a looooong time, and there has been considerable media coverage and controversy as a result. And there have, without a doubt, been some issues to justify those concerns. However, consider the fact that tilt-rotor aircraft as a genre are new, and the Osprey is still in the infant stage of the genre lifespan. The inevitable comparisons to mechanical-issue rates and loss-rates of conventional helicopters are simply invalid, as the comparisons are really apples-and-oranges in nature. A UH-60 Blackhawk, for example, is a fully mature aircraft in the medium-lift helicopter genre, and as such, is a highly-refined design, benefiting from decades of genre-development. The tilt-rotor genre is a new and as prone to teething problems as the helicopter was back in the 1950's.

The MV-22 flies at twice the cruising speed of the CH-53, has 44% more cargo capacity, and 62% more range. Other than leather bucket seats and a Bose sound system, what more could you ask for?




By: Steve