The V-22 program office is studying the longer term of the tiltrotor aircraft, weighing each a technology refresh in addition to whether it could rip off the wings and nacelles so as to add many years of additional life to the airframes.
U.S. Marine Corps Col. Brian Taylor, the joint program manager for the aircraft, told an audience on the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington that the U.S. military is the just one flying a tiltrotor since it’s an advanced plane with an advanced drive system.
That said, Osprey operators proceed to search out “the mission sets the V-22 are entering into is totally unlimited” since the plane is so robust and versatile.
This system office is eyeing a V-22 Cockpit Technology Alternative, or VeCToR, upgrade effort that can begin research and development in 2026 and can be fielded from 2032 to 2042. That effort goals to bring more off-the-shelf technology to the screens, keyboards, computers and radars within the cockpit, for instance.
The office can be within the early stages of studying a Renewed V-22 Aircraft Modernization Program, or ReVAMP, effort that will consider the way to keep the fuselage for many years beyond what would otherwise be the tip of the plane’s effective life within the early 2060s.
Research and development for the ReVAMP effort would formally begin in 2036, in line with his briefing slides, and installations would happen in 2042 to 2050.
“If we needed to do V-22 all once more, what would that appear like? And really specializing in keeping the fuselage, and possibly you replace the wing and the nacelle, possibly you don’t,” he said during his presentation.
“Something we’re learning concerning the fuselage is that it is definitely type of life-unlimited, that there’s enough margin in it. And so if we put a brand new wing and a nacelle on there, we’re probably good for one more 40 years,” he added. “So that may be a study that’s ongoing, nevertheless it’s [all about] how you are taking this platform and make it available to the services” into the 2070s.
Taylor said the trouble is in its infancy and that his office is soliciting ideas and input from industry to shape the trouble.
Asked if a V-22 fuselage with latest wings and drive system would proceed carrying out transport missions or tackle other work, Taylor said: “I don’t know, and that’s the fun part.”
Taylor added that the office is considering an optionally unmanned version while it looks at the way to make the plane more reliable, maintainable, inexpensive and protected.
The drive system has been at the center of several challenges for the platform. In February 2023, this system office halted operations for an undisclosed variety of planes until their input quill assembly was replaced. This input quill assembly, which attaches the Osprey’s engine to its proprotor gear box, was causing hard clutch engagements in cases when the assembly was over a certain age.
Taylor said a brand new input quill assembly prototype that comes with 15 design changes shall be delivered in the subsequent month or so to start testing.
The proprotor gear box itself may additionally see changes within the near term, because it has seen reliability issues, including “chipping,” where metal shavings come off during routine operations and may damage the remaining of the drive system. Taylor said the Navy is investing in a gear box upgrade for its CMV-22 planes.
Taylor said the thought was that this system office would work with industry to engineer a plan to increase V-22 fuselages for the subsequent chapter of their service lives. That plan would then go to the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force in order that they can determine in the event that they wish to spend their money on this life-extension plan or if technology is changing such that they’d quite pursue something entirely latest to fulfill their mission needs.
“I’m somewhat bit biased; I might like to see the V-22 stay in service for the subsequent 100 years. But when there’s a greater thing that we want to pivot to, then that’s really type of as much as the services,” Taylor said.
On the VeCToR cockpit effort, Taylor said this system office is struggling to support displays that were developed within the Nineteen Eighties.
“We’re type of on the tipping point where we’re spending enough on just maintaining what we now have, that it’s time to do something different,” he said. “Truthfully, it was a keyboard that pushed me over the sting, the astonishing bill to maintain the keyboard on the aircraft. It’s 26 letters, 10 numbers, possibly a pair other buttons, nevertheless it looks as if there’s a wiser solution to do these things.”
Because the Marines undertake this effort, Taylor said he also desires to help the plane develop into more software-centric to permit for faster capability upgrades.
Megan Eckstein is the naval warfare reporter at Defense News. She has covered military news since 2009, with a concentrate on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. She has reported from 4 geographic fleets and is happiest when she’s filing stories from a ship. Megan is a University of Maryland alumna.