A new Pentagon order for V-22 Osprey tiltrotors could boost prospects for more rapid development of the BA609 civil tiltrotor. The U.S. Department of Defense signed a $10.4 billion contract for 167 more Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey military tiltrotors over the next five years, despite continuing engine problems on the machine. The Marine Corps will receive 141 MV-22s and the Air Force 26 CV-22s for its Special Operations Command. The new order will join the 100 V-22s already delivered to the military. Since October, the Marines have operated a squadron of MV-22s in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The V-22 program has been steeped in controversy through- out its three-decade development. Recently, high operating temperatures have called into question the durability of the V-22’s $2 million Rolls-Royce AE1107C engines. The problem appears to be linked to premature degradation of compressor blades and is more acute in desert environments due to sand and dust. Rolls-Royce is currently working on protective blade coatings, but V-22 engines are being replaced at a rate more rapid than originally anticipated and at a pace that exceeds Rolls-Royce’s ability to recover engine maintenance costs under a separate 1998 maintenance contract. It has also caused some in the Pentagon to question whether the engine can “grow” to handle the additional power requirements of the V-22 as its mission envelope is expanded.
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