OSPREY COMMONALITY
PROGRAM STARTS
Naval Air Systems Command has
awarded the Bell-Boeing Joint
Project Office a $57-million contract
to begin work on the MV-22B
common configuration-readiness
and modernization (CC-RAM)
program. The project will reduce the
number of distinct variants of the
Osprey from around 70 to about five
and result in improved readiness.
Since entering production in 2004,
the Osprey has fleet has received
many reliability and capability
improvements that were inserted
into the production line, resulting in
numerous different configurations.
Under the CC-RAM program
around 130 MV-22Bs will rotate
through Boeing’s Philadelphiaproduction facility, where they
will receive all of the changes
required to bring the tilt-rotors
up to the same configuration as
the current production versions.
Among the changes being
incorporated are modifications to
the fuel dump system, installation
of a traffic collision avoidance
system (TCAS), weather radar, new
mission computer, and upgraded
electrical generators and cockpit
configuration. The initial work being
carried out under the contract will
include development of instructions
for disassembly, incorporation
of the upgrades and reassembly,
tooling and a production of single
prototype.NORTHROP GRUMMAN
WITHDRAWS FROM
STINGRAY PROGRAM
In a surprising move Northrop
Grumman announced that
it had decided to withdraw
from the US Navy’s MQ-
competition on October 25,- The contractor had
extensive experience with both
this specific effort and the earlier
Unmanned Carrier-Launched
Airborne Surveillance and Strike
(UCLASS) initiative that saw an
unmanned aircraft operating
from a US Navy aircraft carrier for
the first time. In fact Northrop
Grumman had produced the
X-47B, which proved many of the
concepts that will be used by the
eventual MQ-25.
The company’s decision
followed its assessment of
the navy’s final request for
proposals and its determination
that responding to the request
was not in the interests of
Northrop Grumman.
General Atomics is teaming
with Boeing to compete for
the Stingray program, which
received funding under the
Fiscal Year 2019 defense budget.
The budget’s unmanned carrier
aviation (UCA) allocation
expands the tanker role, stating
that the MQ-25 should have
intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities
incorporated from the start.
This marks a return to the
navy’s previous ambitions for
the MQ-25, which had been
significantly watered down over
recent years.
The competition winner will
build just four MQ-25s for the
navy in the course of the first
phase of the project. While
Boeing is set to partner with
General Atomics on this, it says
it will continue with its own
separate solution in relation to a
possible follow-on buy of up to
68 MQ-25s, thereby keeping a
range of options open.
The navy plans to award
an MQ-25 engineering,
manufacturing and
development (EMD) contract
by the end of this year in order
to provide for two Stingrays by
the end of 2021. The service says
it may even scrap the program
if the new craft don’t live up
to expectations, so General
Atomics’ decision to partner
with Boeing, a company that
possesses extensive experience
of working with the navy, makes
good sense.Northrop Grumman’s decision not to respond to the navy’s MQ-
request for proposals came as a huge surprise. Northrop GrummanF-35 WEAPONS ACCURACY
The F-35 developmental test
team completed the last weapons
delivery accuracy (WDA) tests
associated with the system
development and demonstration
(SDD) program in early August- The testing, which was
associated with the release of Block
3F software, included complex
air-to-air demonstrations with
the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-
Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM)
conducted over the sea range
adjacent to NBVC Point Mugu
in Ventura County, California.
Although the AMRAAMs were
equipped with live motors and
guidance systems, their warheads
were replaced by telemetry units. At
the conclusion of the most recent
surge, just one WDA event remained
for 3F, which will pave the way for
the declaration of initial operational
capability (IOC) for all three F-
variants this fall.
Elsewhere, VFA-101 ‘Grim Reapers’
and VFA-125 ‘Rough Raiders’
conducted carrier qualifications
aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln
(CVN 72). The squadron’s F-35Cs
embarked this carrier for the first
time on September 3, 2017.VH-92A FLIES
Lockheed Martin conducted
the initial flight of the first
VH-92A presidential helicopter
replacement aircraft at its
Stratford, Connecticut, on July
28, 2017. The first flight of the
engineering development model
marked the beginning of a 250-
hour flight test program. Later
that same day the aircraft carried
out a second flight that included
hover control checks, low-speed
flight, and a pass over the airfield.
The remainder of the flights willbe carried out from Lockheed
Martin’s facility in Owego, New
York. A second test aircraft will join
the test program later this year.
Based on Sikorsky’s model S-
medium-lift helicopter, the VH-92A
will be equipped with upgraded
communications and executive-
style interior enhancements. It will
replace the Sikorsky VH-3D and
VH-60N helicopters currently used
by marine helicopter squadron
HMX-1 and is expected to enter
service in 2020.US NAVY & MARINE CORPS AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2018
(^16) AIR POWER REVIEW
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