The U.S. Defense Department plans to restart testing in April of the $38 billion Boeing Co. and Providence-based Textron Inc. V-22 Osprey aircraft, which was grounded a year ago after 23 Marines died in two crashes.
“I personally still have some doubts, but the only way to prove the case one way or the other is to put the airplane back into flight test,” said Edward “Pete” Aldridge, the Pentagon’s Undersecretary for Acquisition. The testing will be “more comprehensive than previously planned.”
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The Osprey has been under development for more than 20 years, plagued by software design flaws, poor reliability and doctored maintenance records. The military wants to use the Osprey, which flies like an airplane and takes off and lands like a helicopter, to transport combat troops and for hostage rescues.
Test versions of the tilt-rotor Osprey have crashed four times since 1991, killing 30 people. The Marine Corps grounded the aircraft and sought a production delay after four soldiers were killed during a training exercise last December. Congress raised questions about the aircraft’s software and hydraulics.
The new flight tests will determine the success of design requirements, said Jack Satterfield, a spokesman for Boeing.
The Pentagon plans to buy 458 Ospreys — about 360 for the Marines and the rest for the Air Force and special operations forces. Ten have been delivered so far.
The fuselage of the Osprey is built at a Boeing plant in suburban Philadelphia. The rest of the aircraft is built by Textron’s Bell Helicopter unit in Arlington, Texas.
Approval for full production of the Osprey would trigger contract awards worth as much as $19 billion to the 50-50 venture between Textron and Boeing.
Bloomberg News
