Northrop Grumman wasn’t happy when the Navy suddenly and surprisingly chose the V-22 Osprey as the future Carrier On-board Delivery (COD) aircraft over the cheaper C-2 Greyhound without a competition that analysts thought the C-2 would probably win. But if the company hopes Congress will intervene, they won’t get help from House authorizers, who praised the decision as a bold move to revolutionize the COD mission.
“The committee believes that the V–22’s unique combination of speed, range, cargo capacity, and vertical agility will transform the way that sea-based logistics are accomplished for the COD mission, and carrier strike groups will have more flexible options for resupply, while the V–22’s direct delivery method will allow aviation assets currently used for vertical resupply to be used for other missions,” the House Armed Services Committee stated in its mark of the bill.
Contrary to concerns that the V-22 Osprey is an expensive aircraft with extra capabilities that wouldn’t be necessary in a mission that the C-2 does just fine, the HASC added that it “believes that executing the Department of the Navy’s program of record for the V–22 provides an affordable, low-risk acquisition for the future COD mission.”
That statement of support won’t matter if appropriators decide to step in, but it certainly provides some solid backing to the Navy’s decision to go with Bell-Boeing for the future of carrier resupply.
