thedrifter
09-29-05, 05:48 AM
V-22 Osprey given green light
Decision paves way for full-rate production of tilt-rotor aircraft
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, September 29, 2005
By RICHARD WHITTLE / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – Five years after two V-22 Osprey crashes killed 23 Marines, the Pentagon on Wednesday approved full-rate production of the redesigned and retested tilt-rotor aircraft.
The decision by the Defense Acquisition Board, a committee of top Pentagon officials, clears the way for Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. of Fort Worth and its V-22 partner, Boeing Co., to boost Osprey production from 11 aircraft a year to a planned 48 by 2012.
"Not only is this a pivotal moment for Bell and the literally thousands of employees who helped bring the V-22 to life, but today we mark a truly game-changing advancement in the aviation industry," Michael A. Redenbaugh, chief executive officer of Bell Helicopter, said in a statement. "With this decision, tilt-rotor technology has come to life in a big way."
Mr. Redenbaugh said Bell expects the Osprey program to provide "in excess of $1.5 billion" in annual revenue when it reaches 48 aircraft per year.
The total program could be worth more than $19 billion to Bell through 2018, the company said.
About 2,100 Bell employees work on the Osprey in Fort Worth and 900 more in Amarillo. Bell officials have estimated that they would need an additional 2,000 workers, about two-thirds of them at plants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, to produce 48 Ospreys a year.
The Osprey is a helicopter-airplane hybrid that uses swiveling rotors on its wingtips to take off and land vertically but fly at the speed, range and altitude of a turboprop airplane.
The Marine Corps wants 360 as troop transports to replace its Vietnam-era CH-46 helicopters. The Air Force plans to buy 50 for special operations and the Navy might buy 48 for special missions such as search and rescue.
Those numbers could rise if the Army and international customers who have expressed interest decide to buy it as well.
"The acquisition board's decision to approve high-rate production signals that all of the past barriers to the success of the program have now been removed," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, a think tank with industry ties.
"The only challenge that now confronts the V-22 is getting down the cost of these aircraft so that the maximum production run can be achieved from the widest range of potential users," he said.
The Osprey costs about $71 million per aircraft at the moment, but program officials have vowed to get the price down to $58 million each by 2010.
Critics called for canceling the Osprey after the crashes in 2000. The Pentagon instead grounded the Osprey for 17 months, ordered its hydraulic lines flight control software redesigned and put it through more than 8,000 hours of flight testing.
"During operational testing, the V-22 system demonstrated significant mission advantages when compared to the medium-lift helicopters that it will replace," the Pentagon's chief test official, David Duma, said in a report sent to Congress on Tuesday.
Ellie
Decision paves way for full-rate production of tilt-rotor aircraft
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, September 29, 2005
By RICHARD WHITTLE / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – Five years after two V-22 Osprey crashes killed 23 Marines, the Pentagon on Wednesday approved full-rate production of the redesigned and retested tilt-rotor aircraft.
The decision by the Defense Acquisition Board, a committee of top Pentagon officials, clears the way for Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. of Fort Worth and its V-22 partner, Boeing Co., to boost Osprey production from 11 aircraft a year to a planned 48 by 2012.
"Not only is this a pivotal moment for Bell and the literally thousands of employees who helped bring the V-22 to life, but today we mark a truly game-changing advancement in the aviation industry," Michael A. Redenbaugh, chief executive officer of Bell Helicopter, said in a statement. "With this decision, tilt-rotor technology has come to life in a big way."
Mr. Redenbaugh said Bell expects the Osprey program to provide "in excess of $1.5 billion" in annual revenue when it reaches 48 aircraft per year.
The total program could be worth more than $19 billion to Bell through 2018, the company said.
About 2,100 Bell employees work on the Osprey in Fort Worth and 900 more in Amarillo. Bell officials have estimated that they would need an additional 2,000 workers, about two-thirds of them at plants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, to produce 48 Ospreys a year.
The Osprey is a helicopter-airplane hybrid that uses swiveling rotors on its wingtips to take off and land vertically but fly at the speed, range and altitude of a turboprop airplane.
The Marine Corps wants 360 as troop transports to replace its Vietnam-era CH-46 helicopters. The Air Force plans to buy 50 for special operations and the Navy might buy 48 for special missions such as search and rescue.
Those numbers could rise if the Army and international customers who have expressed interest decide to buy it as well.
"The acquisition board's decision to approve high-rate production signals that all of the past barriers to the success of the program have now been removed," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, a think tank with industry ties.
"The only challenge that now confronts the V-22 is getting down the cost of these aircraft so that the maximum production run can be achieved from the widest range of potential users," he said.
The Osprey costs about $71 million per aircraft at the moment, but program officials have vowed to get the price down to $58 million each by 2010.
Critics called for canceling the Osprey after the crashes in 2000. The Pentagon instead grounded the Osprey for 17 months, ordered its hydraulic lines flight control software redesigned and put it through more than 8,000 hours of flight testing.
"During operational testing, the V-22 system demonstrated significant mission advantages when compared to the medium-lift helicopters that it will replace," the Pentagon's chief test official, David Duma, said in a report sent to Congress on Tuesday.
Ellie