V-22 Osprey manufacturer Bell Boeing V-22 successfully tested its forward-firing capability last month at the US Army Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona, my Defense News colleague Joe Gould reports.
Here is more from Joe Gould’s article:
Company officials said the test showed the V-22 can be armed with a variety of forward-facing munitions and can hit targets with a high degree of reliability. That will reduce the Osprey’s reliance on forward arming and refueling points, which are sometimes necessary to supply short-range attack rotorcraft in support of V-22 operations.
Vince Tobin, vice president and program manager for the Bell Boeing V-22, said this would allow the V-22 to be launched more frequently and on shorter notice.
Joe Gould’s full article can be found here:
And this from Aviation Week:
After turning the Lockheed Martin KC-130 Hercules into an armed reconnaissance platform, now the U.S. Marine Corps wants to do the same with its fleet of V-22 Osprey tiltrotors, Tony Osborne of Aviation Week reports.
Bell and Boeing, have been carrying out self-funded trials in a bid to add a lethal arrow in the Osprey’s quiver in the form of forward-firing weapons, he noted in his article.
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Here is more of Tony Osborne’s article:
The trials, which took place at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona last month, follow on from work to prove the aircraft’s ability to provide inflight refueling to fighter jets and to act as an electronic-warfare platform and communications node.
It is a long way from the V-22’s initially envisaged role of replacing the Sikorsky CH-46 Sea Knight as a high-speed troop lifter.
Tony Osborne’s full article can be seen here:
http://aviationweek.com/defense/osprey-fires-guided-rockets-and-missiles-new-trials
