AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COMAPRIL 2015 |^75
V-22 & E-2D military trials z
fired at stationary plywood targets. In
10 of the launches, the weapons used
high-explosive warheads. For the
remaining 18, the weapons were fitted
with inert warheads.
The guided weapons comprised the
BAE Advanced Precision Kill Weapon
System (APKWS) and the AGM-176
Raytheon Griffin B. Two examples of
each type were successfully fired.
Now in its third year of quantity
production, the APKWS turns a
standard unguided 70mm (2.75in)
caliber rocket into a precision laser-
guided rocket. Developed in order
to provide a low-cost surgical strike
capability, the APKWS is the only
guided rocket of its size to have been
fully qualified by the US Department
of Defense.
The Griffin B belongs to a family
of lightweight missiles, the B-version
being the model intended for forward-
firing applications. The Griffin B
combines GPS-aided inertial guidance
with a semi-active laser seeker. The
weapon is equipped with folding fins
and is deployed from a tube launcher.
A 5.9kg (13 lb) warhead is carried. Like
the APKWS, the Griffin is a low-cost
precision weapon that makes use of
components from existing systems.
Speaking about the Griffin B
launches from the Osprey, Mike Jarrett,
vice president of Raytheon’s Air Warfare
Systems, remarks, “This is the first time
a forward-firing missile has been
launched from the V-22. It’s an
important aspect of the V-22’s capability
that integrates a simple to operate,
low-cost, precision strike missile
- something in which the US Air Force
Special Operations Command has
shown significant interest.”
The third, unguided weapon was
the US military’s standard 70mm
caliber Hydra rocket, as used on a
variety of fixed- and rotary-winged
platforms. Currently unique as an
in-service tiltrotor aircraft, the
Osprey’s configuration presented
the test team with new challenges.
In order to ensure adequate clearance
of the rotors in forward flight, it was
judged impossible to add weapons in
the ‘waist’ position along the lower
fuselage. Instead, the weapons
hardpoint was fitted below the cockpit
on the left side of the fuselage.
For the forward-firing trials, each
weapon was launched in two different
flight regimes: hover and conversion.
In the conversion flight mode, the
V-22’s engine nacelles are set at 60°
and the aircraft was in forward flight
at a speed of 110kts. In each case, the
weapons were launched at a range of
2-3km from the target.
In order to fire a weapon, the crew
on board the MV-22 first set the
aircraft’s altitude and attitude, and
maintained the correct distance from
the target. For the precision weapons,
the target was then ‘lased’ using the
MX-15Di turret. The weapons were
fired using a new control panel fitted to
the central console on the flight deck.
An accompanying helicopter
gathered video of the firing sequence,
supplementing video recorded by
cameras on board the Osprey. The
Yuma trials have demonstrated that theV-22 can be successfully equipped with
forward-firing rockets and missiles.
Now that the industry-led phase of
testing is complete, the way has been
paved for further trials by the military.E-2D CARRIER TRIALS
On March 9, 2015, the aircraft carrier
USS Theodore Roosevelt departed its
base in Norfolk, Virginia, with the
Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced
Hawkeye early warning aircraft on
board for its first operational
deployment. The path toward the
landmark cruise by Carrier Airborne
Early Warning Squadron 125 (VAW-
125), the initial operational E-2D
squadron, was a long one and has at
times been hampered by budget cuts.
The next-generation E-2D made its
maiden flight in summer 2007 and
began carrier suitability testing back
in early 2011. An Integrated Test Team
(ITT) within Air Test and Evaluation
Squadron 20 (VX-20) completed a first
arrested carrier landing aboard the USS
Harry S Truman on January 31, 2011.
The initial E-2D, known as Delta One,
followed this feat with a first carrier
take-off from the flat-top on February- In the course of a six-day evaluation,
around 200 test points were addressed,
to ensure the E-2D’s effectiveness in an
operational shipboard environment.
Externally, the E-2D looks little
different from the E-2 as first flown in - The obvious external changes
are the new eight-bladed propellers,
but inside the airframe fully revised
avionics and electronics systems bring
the Hawkeye fully up-to-date.
BELOW: On March
11, 2015, the
Theodore
Roosevelt Carrier
Strike Group
departed Naval
Station Norfolk
for an around-the-
world tour with
deployment of
the E2-D“THIS IS THE FIRST TIME A
FORWARD-FIRING MISSILE HAS
BEEN LAUNCHED FROM THE V-22.
IT’S AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF
THE V-22’S CAPABILITY”