Combat aircraft

OSPREY UPDATE

BOEING IS MODIFYING the

 rst of as many as 129 Block B

MV-22Bs to a common Block C

standard under the Common

Con guration-Readiness and

Modernization (CC-RAM) program.

The work will be carried out at the

contractor’s production facility

near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Marine Corps’ Osprey  eet

currently includes 70 hardware

and seven di erent software

con gurations. The CC-RAM will

create a standard con guration

for the  eet by 2026. The

$57-million contract was released

in August 2017.

Meanwhile, the Department

of the Navy is moving forward

with plans for  elding a  eet

of 38 CMV-22B carrier on-

board delivery (COD) aircraft,

beginning in 2020. The service

has begun conducting required

environmental assessments (EAs)

at NAS North Island, California, and

Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia’s

Chambers Field. Although both

facilities will support the COD

variant of the tilt-rotor Osprey,

the number of aircraft assigned

to each location is under

consideration. The location chosen

for the Osprey  eet replacement

squadron (FRS) will determine the

 nal alignment.

Under the  rst of two

alternatives, the FRS would be

located at North Island alongside

one operational squadron. The

second operational squadron

would be stationed at the Norfolk

facility. The option would result

in the assignment of 23 Ospreys

to the former and 15 to the latter.

The two facilities currently operate

10 and 17 C-2A Greyhounds in

the COD role respectively. The last

C-2As would leave North Island in

2024 and Norfolk by 2028.

Under alternative 2, the FRS

would be located at Chambers

Field alongside an operational

squadron and the second

operational squadron at North

Island. Under this option the two

bases would be home to 20 and

18 CMV-22Bs respectively. The

last C-2A would leave NAS North

Island in 2024, and Norfolk by

2026. In both cases the transition
      from the Greyhound to the Osprey
      would be completed by 2028.
      Whereas each of the deployed
      COD detachments operates two
      C-2As, the Osprey complement
      will be increased to three aircraft.
      The COD version of the V-
      is scheduled to achieve initial
      operating capability no later
      than September 2020, with full
      operational capability following
      in 2024. Initial training for Osprey
      crews will be conducted by
      Marine medium tilt-rotor training
      squadron VMMT-204 at MCAS New
      River, North Carolina. The service
      has decided that  eet logistics
      support squadrons VRC-30 and
      VRC-40 will be redesignated as
       eet logistics support multi-
      mission squadrons VRM-30 and
      VRM-40 as part of the Osprey
      conversion process.
      An MV-22B that had been assigned to HX-21 will now support
      aerospace medicine research at the Naval Medical Research Unit
      Dayton (NAMRU-D) and the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine
      (USAFSAM) at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. BuNo 165838, arrived at the
      Dayton base from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on December 19, for
      static aerospace medical research. Known as ‘Chilly Willy’, the Osprey
      had previously supported development testing, much of which involved
      cold-weather trials in Halifax, Nova Scotia. USAF/R.J. Oriez

KC-46 RECEIVES

CERTIFICATION FOR 767-2C

BOEING HAS RECEIVED the

amended type certi cate (ATC)

from the US Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA) for the 767-2C

aircraft that serves as the basis

for the KC-46A tanker program.

Based on the commercial 767,

the modi ed -2C version features

a revised structure, wiring and

plumbing that are all associated

with the military mission.

The certi cation required Boeing

to complete a series of analyses

and lab, ground and  ight tests

that focused on the aircraft’s

avionics, automatic  ight and

environmental control systems,

and its new fuel system. In

addition to the FAA certi cation,

a combined Boeing/USAF team

has concurrently been completing

supplemental type certi cate

(STC) work related to the Pegasus’s

tanker systems. Now nearly 85

per cent complete, that testing

has moved into the FAA  ight-

testing phase.

Six aircraft are have  own more

than 2,200 hours while supporting

 ight-testing. Based on the

extended-range 767-200, the -2C

uses the 767-300ER’s wings, the

767-400ER’s horizontal stabilizers

and the 787’s cockpit displays.

DEPLOYMENT

NEWS

Ohio Guard deployed

Twelve F-16Cs and nearly

300 airmen from the Ohio Air

National Guard’s 180th Fighter

Wing deployed to Amari Air

Base, Estonia, as part of a theater

security package (TSP) in January.

The  ghters, which are operated

by the 112th Expeditionary

Fighter Squadron, will forward-

deploy to multiple locations

throughout Europe before

returning to their base in Toledo

in early March.

‘Flying Tigers’ complete

deployment

A-10Cs operated by the 23rd

Wing’s 74th Expeditionary Fighter

Squadron recently completed a

deployment to Incirlik AB, Turkey,

in support of operations against

ISIS. The aircraft and personnel

arrived in Turkey during July

2017 and immediately began

 ying close air support (CAS)

missions for US-backed  ghters

in Iraq and Syria. Three months

of the deployment were spent

supporting operations in Raqqa,

Syria, where the pilots provided

CAS for friendly forces engaged in

 ghting in an urban center, during

missions that averaged nearly

7.5 hours in duration. Because

the battleground often involved

door-to-door  ghting in multi-

storey buildings the squadron was

required to develop new tactics

that allowed it to support the

friendly troops while minimizing

collateral damage. During the

initial phase of operations the

A-10Cs were responsible for 40

per cent of the munitions that

were delivered.

The fi rst KC-46A test aircraft during a recent test fl ight with removable

Cobham (Sargent Fletcher) underwing refueling pods installed. Boeing

UNITED STATES [NEWS]

http://www.combataircraft.net // March 2018 11

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