For years, Bell-Boeing’s V-22 Osprey had been pitched as a possible replacement for aging C-2 aircraft as the Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) platform of the future, but its high price tag made it a tough sell in the eyes of many analysts. Recent reports, however, indicate that the Navy is planning on using the tiltrotors for just such a role — although it remains to be seen just how heavily the service will rely on the aircraft.
A memorandum of understanding obtained by Virtual Analyst states that the Navy intends to buy four V-22s per year in fiscal 2018, 2019, and 2020 for the COD effort. The story was first reported by Breaking Defense.
The 12 V-22s will apparently be aircraft that would have gone to the Marine Corps but will be sent to the Navy instead, and the service will modify it into an appropriate configuration for the COD mission, according to the MOU. In fiscal year 2021, 2022, and 2023, V-22s that would have been allocated to the Navy will be sent to the Marine Corps to replace those aircraft.
The MOU is dated Jan. 5 and was signed by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford, and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.
Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group, said it was a surprising move considering the cash-strapped environment at the Pentagon and the fact that a modernized C-2 would have been far less expensive, both in terms of procurement and operational costs.
However, he noted that the COD situation remains a mystery, because the 12 V-22s would be nowhere near enough to cover the entire COD requirement, and therefore the Navy could potentially be looking at splitting the role between V-22s and modernized C-2s.
Aboulafia said he doubted the Navy would have a big fight on its hands with Congress, as the V-22 has plenty of advocates and he doesn’t see an obviously hero for the C-2 that is likely to push back against the service’s decision.
Defense Daily reported that Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley told reporters at the Surface Navy Association’s conference this week that the reason the Navy made the move is because in order to go with modernized C-2s, the Navy would have to pull aircraft out of service, which was unacceptable considering how stretced the Navy COD fleet already is. However, he declined to go into more detail on the plan, telling reporters they would have to wait until the fiscal 2016 budget is released in a month.