Posted on Mar 25, 2023
Japan V-22s free from hard clutch problems for now; US Marines confident in repair plan -...
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The Japanese V-22 Osprey fleet, the newest in the world, has not been affected by the hard clutch problem that led to the grounding of many American V-22s, a senior US defense official tells Breaking Defense — but that doesn’t mean the aircraft won’t need replacement parts in the future.
The official, speaking to Breaking Defense during a visit to Australia, also revealed new details about why the US Marine Corps decided to order a flight-stop for a chunk of its Osprey fleet, months after it downplayed a similar move by the US Air Force as unnecessary.
On Feb. 4, the Pentagon announced it was grounding an undefined “subset” of the Osprey fleet, used by the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force, due to wear on an engine part known as the “input quill assembly,” which connects the aircraft’s engine to the drive system. It had not previously stated if the Japanese Ospreys were impacted by the ground stop.
The Japanese have a fleet of 17 Ospreys, which they began receiving in July 2020 so they have relatively few hours compared to the majority of the Marine fleet. That means, the official said, they have never had to stop flying. However, the official would not rule out the need to replace those parts in the future as the Japanese Ospreys take on more flight hours.
The official, speaking to Breaking Defense during a visit to Australia, also revealed new details about why the US Marine Corps decided to order a flight-stop for a chunk of its Osprey fleet, months after it downplayed a similar move by the US Air Force as unnecessary.
On Feb. 4, the Pentagon announced it was grounding an undefined “subset” of the Osprey fleet, used by the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force, due to wear on an engine part known as the “input quill assembly,” which connects the aircraft’s engine to the drive system. It had not previously stated if the Japanese Ospreys were impacted by the ground stop.
The Japanese have a fleet of 17 Ospreys, which they began receiving in July 2020 so they have relatively few hours compared to the majority of the Marine fleet. That means, the official said, they have never had to stop flying. However, the official would not rule out the need to replace those parts in the future as the Japanese Ospreys take on more flight hours.
Japan V-22s free from hard clutch problems for now; US Marines confident in repair plan -...
Posted from breakingdefense.com
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...''“The data showed us that the rate of occurrence would continue to increase. So the measure that we undertook of the flight limit bulletin, I think, probably is best summed up as that will allow us to not only to stop this increase in the rate of occurrence, but reduce it by 99%,” the senior official said.
Notably, the official stressed that any grounded Marine aircraft could be safely used to respond if needed, thanks both to the data from the models and pilot training. “Our pilots are well trained to handle the drive train problem. They’ve been doing that for years,” the official said.
“We’re ready any time now, for any mission or any task,” the official said. “If our National Commander or our senior leaders had said, Marine Corps, go respond to Turkey, we would have gone and responded to Turkey with MV-22s. If they said, Marine Corps go respond to the Pacific for whatever the disaster may be we’d have airplanes airborne in a matter of hours.”
Marine maintainers and pilots have been kept apprised of the issues and how things are progressing since the grounding was announced and has “provided great feedback.”
The official said senior leaders have “been transparent. We’ve been in direct communication, myself and the engineers with every ready room that flies the V-22.”
The other good news is that the replacement parts are made by more than one company.
“These are not obsolete parts that we’re talking about. So they’re still in production and we did not have to go back to the drawing board and crank up lines that were cold,” the senior official said"
...''“The data showed us that the rate of occurrence would continue to increase. So the measure that we undertook of the flight limit bulletin, I think, probably is best summed up as that will allow us to not only to stop this increase in the rate of occurrence, but reduce it by 99%,” the senior official said.
Notably, the official stressed that any grounded Marine aircraft could be safely used to respond if needed, thanks both to the data from the models and pilot training. “Our pilots are well trained to handle the drive train problem. They’ve been doing that for years,” the official said.
“We’re ready any time now, for any mission or any task,” the official said. “If our National Commander or our senior leaders had said, Marine Corps, go respond to Turkey, we would have gone and responded to Turkey with MV-22s. If they said, Marine Corps go respond to the Pacific for whatever the disaster may be we’d have airplanes airborne in a matter of hours.”
Marine maintainers and pilots have been kept apprised of the issues and how things are progressing since the grounding was announced and has “provided great feedback.”
The official said senior leaders have “been transparent. We’ve been in direct communication, myself and the engineers with every ready room that flies the V-22.”
The other good news is that the replacement parts are made by more than one company.
“These are not obsolete parts that we’re talking about. So they’re still in production and we did not have to go back to the drawing board and crank up lines that were cold,” the senior official said"
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