ARTICLE

November 2003

Air Force Tilt Rotor Pilots To Begin Training in ‘05

by Frank Colucci

The Air Force Special Operations Command plans to begin CV-22 crew training in 2005. The 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., already has one motion-based, full flight simulator and one fixed-base, flight training device, which is undergoing modifications.

Bell Helicopter is the simulator prime contractor. The trainer integrates a representative CV-22 cockpit with the FlightSafety International Vital 9 visual system. The advanced visual system will enable CV-22 crews to fly over simulated terrain in all weather conditions, said company officials. CV-22 and Marine MV-22 simulators will be identical, except for SOF-specific cockpit details and threat environments.

Two more simulators (one full flight simulator and one fixed-base flight training device) at the Air Force schoolhouse will be ready for training between 2007 and 2011. A cabin part task trainer for rear-cabin aircrew will be available for training by 2006. Each operational squadron will have a flight-training device, and all simulators will have networking capability to rehearse multi-player missions.

The CV-22 is still under development, but several enhancements are under consideration. A turreted gun to supplement the Pave Low-like ramp gun remains an unfunded requirement, said program officials. Helmet displays and other improvements may be incorporated in later Osprey production batches.

A favorable Defense Acquisition Board review that revived Marine Corps hopes for the MV-22 tilt rotor likewise saved Air Force plans for the CV-22 Special Operations Osprey.

While the V-22 Integrated Test Team at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., continues joint-service development testing, CV-22 work at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., focuses on technology unique to special operations forces.

The Air Force Special Operations Command plans to acquire 50 CV-22s between 2006 and 2017. However, full production rates for the tilt rotor are still to be determined.

A successful CV-22 initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) from April to September 2006 will enable the first of five Air Force Special Operations squadrons to become operational by the first quarter of fiscal year 2009. The initial capability will include six tilt rotors, with 1.5 fully trained crews per aircraft and support assets.

With the speed and range of a turboprop and the vertical takeoff and landing performance of a helicopter, the tilt rotor promises to infiltrate, exfiltrate and resupply SOF over long distances in a single night.

Original requirements for the special operations tilt rotor were shaped by the 1980 aborted mission to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran. A rescue force with RH-53D helicopters would have required 35 hours to evacuate the hostages with two daytime hidesites and the support of C-130 and C-141 transports. CV-22s, in the same scenario, could potentially do the job in eight hours, with a smaller, less detectable force.

Though CV-22 payload and range benchmarks have changed during development, the tilt rotor advantages remain clear. Simplified comparisons between the Bell Boeing CV-22 and the Sikorsky MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopter figure the tilt rotor will carry twice as much, twice as fast, four to five times farther. Carrying a typical force of 12 SOF operators, the Osprey is expected to fly 525 nautical miles, hover over a mountainous landing zone, and, should the mission be aborted, return with troops aboard. With the same load, the Pave Low reaches just 130 nautical miles.

AFSOC now has 35 MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopters in two operational Special Operations squadrons and one training squadron. The 50 new CV-22s will outfit four operational squadrons and a training unit. With the arrival of the tilt rotor, AFSOC intends to phase out its Paves from 2009 to 2014.

The Osprey was sized to Navy amphibious assault ships and reinforced Marine rifle companies. As a result, the cabin of the tilt rotor holds just 24 troop seats, versus 27 in the MH-53M. The Osprey cabin also rules out Humvees and some other large internal loads that fit the SOF helicopter.

Bell Boeing engineers calculate the reduced acoustic signature and higher penetrating speed of the CV-22 will give enemy air defenders one-eighth the audible warning time of a helicopter. Integrated infrared engine exhaust suppressors should cut the lock-on area available to shoulder-fired missiles 95 percent more than unsuppressed helicopters.

Risky, politically sensitive SOF missions generally are flown by single aircraft or small formations at very low altitudes, usually at night and often in adverse weather. For difficult mission profiles, the CV-22 introduces a new generation of integrated avionics more capable and supportable than even the updated Pave Low IV suite. Testing at Edwards Air Force Base is to prove the mission electronics of the Special Operations tilt rotor in low-altitude penetrating flight profiles.

SOF Testing
Two MV-22 crashes froze the Osprey program in late 2000. A developmental flight test program resumed at Patuxent River in May 2002. CV-22 flight tests resumed at Edwards in September 2002.

The test team at Patuxent River has five Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) and two Engineering Manufacturing and Development (EMD) MV-22s with modified hydraulic and flight control systems. The two CV-22s at Edwards are EMD aircraft 7 and 9 with safety modifications and AFSOC-specific hardware.

The first CV-22 prototype at Edwards began terrain following radar flights in April and logged the 500th Osprey flight hour since the tilt rotor resumed testing in May 2002. “It’s a joint program with give and take,” says CV-22 development lead Lt. Col. Earnie Tavares. “The general philosophy is Edwards does CV-unique testing. Patuxent River does the basic aircraft.”

The basic airframe, engines, dynamics and avionics architecture of the Marine MV-22 and Air Force CV-22 are nearly identical (Production CV-22 noses have local reinforcement to carry the terrain following radar). The objective CV-22 Block 10 configuration differs from the MV-22 Block A, primarily in mission electronics and fuel provisions. The Special Operations Osprey integrates terrain-following radar, advanced radar and infrared countermeasures, and secure digital communications for the crew up front and SOF team in back. The CV-22 cockpit has a seat and displays for a crew chief/systems operator, and it gives the pilots dedicated electronic warfare displays and independent digital maps.

Compared with the basic MV-22, the CV-22 adds 4,000 pounds of fuel in eight wing cells and another 2,150 pounds in the aft right sponson. Some MV-22s in MEUSOCs (Marine Expeditionary Units, Special Operations Capable) will have the same extended-range provisions, and both the Air Force and Marines have agreed on a crashworthy 435 gallon auxiliary cabin tank. Both the CV-22 and MV-22 are air-refuelable. From a rolling takeoff overloaded to 60,500 pounds, the Air Force tilt rotor will self-deploy 2,700 nautical miles with a single refueling. Unlike helicopters crammed aboard jet transports, the special operations tilt rotor should arrive ready to fly without reassembly.

The U.S. Special Operations Command now funds CV-22 research and development. Production and fielding costs will be split about 85 percent to the Air Force and 15 percent to SOCOM.

The testing office includes about 25 Air Force representatives, both military and civilian, and it will acquire six to 10 more in the next year. AFSOC also has contributed one Pave Low pilot and one MC-130 Combat Talon pilot to the V-22 “integrated product team” to exploit their operational perspectives. Retired AFSOC crewmembers also fill several civilian slots.

The CV-22 tests are flown by a detachment from the 18th Flight Test Squadron, home based at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Ultimately, two of the four operational CV-22 squadrons will be based at Hurlburt.

Joint testing results from the MV-22 are generalized to the CV-22. That enabled Marine and Air Force pilots to evaluate EMD Ospreys in SOF-relevant maneuvers, including night formation flights, tanker hookups and confined area landings. Troops fast-roped from the V-22 rear ramp and rode a special insertion and extraction rig under the aircraft. The operational test saw EMD Ospreys in helicopter mode fly at 10 knots 10 feet off the water to deploy SOF boats.

CV-22 work at Edwards is focused on low-altitude terrain flying with the Raytheon AN/APQ-186 multi-mode radar. Derived from the APQ-174 radar on Army MH-47E and MH-60K special operations helicopters, the 186 radar will allow safe flight down to a 100-foot programmed terrain clearance at night, in adverse weather, and in high-threat environments. The radar is not tied to the flight controls but provides pilot cues on cockpit multi-function displays. (A long-studied helmet display awaits block-improved V-22s.)

Terrain following radar cues can also be superimposed over thermal imagery from the Raytheon AN/AAQ-27 forward looking infrared sensor. Common to the MV-22, the new-generation FLIR uses a mid-infrared staring focal plane array able to generate clear imagery in humid environments.

EMD Aircraft No. 7 flew its first daylight terrain-following exercise at Edwards Air Force Base in early April. The tilt rotor covered flat terrain in both helicopter and airplane modes and at altitudes down to 100 feet. “Overall, the airplane handles like the simulator,” noted Boeing CV-22 program manager Mike Rolecki. Contractor and Air Force pilots had flown terrain-following simulations linking the company’s cockpit, avionics, and flight control laboratories. Upcoming tests will take the real aircraft over rolling and peaked terrain with a vertical rise from 500 to 5,000 feet.

While EMD Osprey No. 7 proves the SOF-critical radar, Aircraft No. 9 has been more extensively remanufactured to CV-22 standards with the suite of integrated radio frequency countermeasures (SIRFC), multi-mission advanced tactical terminal, and provisions for directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM). Anechoic chamber tests showed SIRFC compatible with other aircraft systems, and the second CV-22 prototype will resume flight testing in June.

The ITT Avionics AN/ALQ-211(V)2 electronic warfare suite gives the Air Force tilt rotor both passive radar warning and active radar jamming capabilities. The passive portion of the electronic warfare system works with the GPS-augmented inertial navigator and the EFW/Elbit digital map to steer special operations crews around threats. The RF jammer prioritizes threats and instantly applies the optimum radiated power and jamming techniques to defeat pulse, continuous wave, Pulse Doppler, and monopulse radar threats. Flight tests with the RF countermeasures suite will stretch from October 2003 through March 2004 at China Lake, California.

The integrated RF countermeasures also provide the processing power to manage the entire CV-22 aircraft survivability suite. SIRFC interfaces with four AAR-54 missile warning receivers and five AN/ALE-47 countermeasures dispensers (three more dispensers than the Marine MV-22) with 150 mixed flares, chaff cartridges, and RF decoys.

To counter multi-band infrared threats, AFSOC flies the Northrop Grumman AN/ALQ-24 Nemesis DIRCM on MC-130 and AC-130 turboprops. The same laser-based IR jammer system will be integrated into the EW suite of the CV-22. The small-aircraft system uses AN/AAR-54 precision missile warning receivers to point a single turreted laser directly at incoming missiles. Northrop Grumman and Bell Helicopter finished laboratory integration testing and will install the system on Aircraft No. 9 in the first quarter of 2004.

The multi-mission advanced tactical terminal gives the CV-22 crew a secure UHF receiver for intelligence reports. The CV-22 communications suite includes four Rockwell DCS-2000 VHF/UHF radios, two more than the MV-22. The software-programmable radios establish line-of-sight and satellite voice and data links.

Build and Field
Despite a favorable review from the Defense Acquisition Board, tilt rotor production hovers at 11 aircraft per year, pending a favorable Milestone III decision in 2005. With full production authorization, the notional rate surges to 24 per year in 2006 and then goes even higher to field 360 MV-22s, 50 Air Force CV-22s and 48 Navy HV-22s in a timely fashion. Boeing figures it can turn out four Osprey fuselages per month.

AFSOC now expects from two to five CV-22s a year from 2006 to 2017. “It maybe more cost effective to make them sooner,” said Tavares.

Fuselages for two production representative test vehicles (aircraft 1005 and 1006) are already in the new Boeing assembly facility outside Philadelphia. Bell produces V-22 wings and assembles the aircraft for delivery at Amarillo, Texas. The CV-22 test vehicle should arrive at Edwards in April and October 2005, initially to train evaluation pilots and then fly the IOT&E program.

After testing, the first production CV-22s will become the primary training aircraft inventory of the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland, in late 2006. The next two production aircraft will arrive at Kirtland that same year to stand-up the SOF-specific mission qualification schoolhouse.

In contrast to Marine MV-22s with crews of three, Special Operations Ospreys will follow Pave Low tradition and fly with four crewmembers—two pilots, a crewchief and a qualified gunner. Initially, AFSOC plans to select CV-22 pilots from its experienced Pave Low and Combat Talon crews. Helicopter ratings will not be required for the tilt rotor but fixed-wing pilots may need some helicopter familiarization.

As experience with the aircraft grows, aircrew candidates will come through the usual Air Force source selection process. CV-22 pilot training will start with MV-22 qualification at the VMMT-204 joint schoolhouse at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C. Full combat mission qualification training in the CV-22 will be conducted by the 58th Special Operations Wing.

AFSOC has not yet identified individual Osprey squadrons. However, it plans four operational squadrons, two within the 16th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field plus one in Pacific Command and one in European Command at locations to be determined. The training squadron with six CV-22s stands up at Kirtland beginning in 2006. The first operational squadron will be established at the 16th SOW in 2007, followed by PACOM in 2010 and EUCOM in 2012. The second squadron at Hurlburt stands up in 2014, with 12 primary and one backup aircraft.

Each operational CV-22 squadron at Hurlburt will have a primary mission aircraft inventory of 12 CV-22s and one backup inventory aircraft. The PACOM squadron will be assigned eight primary mission aircraft and one backup aircraft. EUCOM will have seven primary aircraft and one backup. A single CV-22 test aircraft will also be assigned to the 18th Flight Test Squadron at Hurlburt in fiscal year 2008.

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