The US Navy is replacing its C-2A Greyhounds, the primary aircraft in charge of making urgent
deliveries to aircraft carriers anywhere around the world.
And by urgent, I don’t mean one-day Amazon deliveries, even though Amazon packages do
get delivered to aircraft carriers.
The C-2 Greyhound has had a long career with the US Navy since the 1960s, but is now being
replaced with a tiltrotor, the CMV-22 Osprey.
Yes, it looks like the MV-22 that US Marines have been now using for a while, but just
a bit chubbier on the cheeks!
Can the CMV-22 actually do everything that the C-2 is doing right now?
Absolutely.
In fact, it is capable of doing much more.
But why as it stands, the Osprey would be unable to reach its full potential with the
US Navy, is Not What You Think!
Flying a cargo plane directly to an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Ocean is quite
expensive, and that’s why its mission is limited to transporting urgent packages, parts
and aircraft engines.
Critical personnel may also be flown in if needed, and at times, emergency evacuations
are performed to take someone off the aircraft carriers.
All of that is done with the help of the C-2 Greyhound.
Everything else, like Amazon packages, mail, food, supplies, and fuel are all delivered
using a second method, underway replenishment, which is done with the help of a supply ship.
The CMV-22 Osprey is what’s replacing the C-2 Greyhound.
The Osprey is a tiltrotor that can takeoff and land like a helicopter, but transit as
a turboprop aircraft.
The CMV-22 can carry less payload, 6,000 lb, compared to the C-2’s 10,000 lb.
But the Osprey makes up for this by being able to carry external cargo, allowing it
to transport oversized loads that do not fit inside the C-2.
When it comes to operational range, both the C-2 and the CMV-22 have a similar range, except
that the Osprey can be refueled mid-air, giving it much more range if needed.
But it’s probably the osprey’s ability to perform vertical takeoff and landing that
really gives it an edge.
The C-2 is catapult-launched, and lands on the carrier with the help of arrestor wires.
During both take off and landing, a huge amount of force is experienced by those onboard,
which may not be a big deal for the crew, but could be detrimental for someone with
a medical condition.
In February 2021, a sailor who had experienced a stroke needed to be evacuated from aircraft
carrier USS Carl Vinson.
Given his critical condition, evacuating the sailor on a C-2 Greyhound could have been
fatal during the catapult launch.
Thankfully, a CMV-22 was onboard which was used for medevac for the very first time,
saving the sailor’s life
In another example, one of the catapults broke down on aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln
and the support element that was needed for the repair had to be picked up from shore
and flown back to the carrier.
Of course, the C-2 Greyhound could have used any of the remaining 3 catapults to fly out.
The issue, however, was that there was no runway near that particular support facility,
so multiple hops would have been needed to bring the repair element back to the ship.
The CMV-22 saved a lot of time by flying there directly.
We should note that in both cases, a helicopter would not have had the operational range to
fly from the carrier and make it all the way to shore.
Even if it did, because the Osprey can switch to airplane mode in horizontal flight, it
can fly much faster than a helicopter.
CMV-22 has a cruising speed in the range of 305 mph, almost twice as much as conventional
helicopters.
The most notable visual difference between the existing V-22 variants and the CMV-22B
is the fuel tank extensions to the forward portion of the sponsons on either side of
the aircraft.
The CMV variant will also have an improved fuel dumping capability, to dump fuel in-flight
during emergency situations.
The additional fuel tanks were necessary to ensure the CMV-22 can have the operational
range needed to perform Carrier Onboard Delivery or COD, which is its primary mission when
replacing the C-2s.
But this Osprey is a game changer for the Navy, because it can do much more than just
delivering cargo.
The CMV-22s could be equipped with the V-22 Aerial Refuelling System or VARS, which will
allow them to refuel other aircraft like F/A-18s or F-35s.
This will allow the F-35s to reach target areas as far as 1,000 miles away, if refueled
by the Osprey.
The US Marine Corps has been testing this capability for a few years now, but it is
unknown whether the US Navy would include this capability for its CMV-22 fleet.
The US Navy currently has 2 carrier-based aircraft that can operate as tankers in order
to perform aerial refueling.
One option is the F/A-18F Super Hornet, which can be equipped with external tanks in order
to provide fuel to other aircraft.
Until a few years ago, Super Hornets were the only carrier-based aircraft covering tanker
missions during deployments on the carriers, but this meant that they would reach their
6,000-hour service life several years earlier.
The second option is the MQ-25 Stingray, an aerial refueling drone.
In June 2021, the MQ-25 conducted its first refueling operation, providing fuel to an
F/A-18F Super Hornet.
The Ospreys can also be equipped with multiple mission packages.
I can see some of you are getting LCS flashbacks!
But this is different.
The rear ramp of the Osprey allows for different mission packages to be installed in its cargo
bay.
For example, if an E-2 Hawkeye cannot operate for some reason, a special communication package
could be installed to turn the CMV-22 into a communication node.
Similarly, an electronic warfare roll-on/roll-off package has been successfully tested by the
US Marine Corps.
The Osprey will also be equipped with a beyond-line-of-sight high frequency radio and improved command
and control capabilities to provide line-of-sight communications beyond the horizon.
In addition to this, CMV-22 accommodates a crew of 4, plus 24 troops.
This can allow the Osprey to deploy naval special warfare forces, either with the help
of low or high altitude parachute drops, or with a combat rubber raiding craft.
This all sounds great, but there is a little problem.
The US Navy originally planned to proccur 48 Ospreys, but that number was later reduced
to 44.
As of December 2022, the US Navy has only received 19 of them.
Because the CMV-22 can do so much more than C-2 could, during high demand situations,
the multimission aspect of the Osprey may result in reduced availability for its primary
missions, as a logistical asset.
The V-22 platform is also already a bit of a maintenance hog and its cost per flight
hour is very high.
As more fleet elements tap into the asset, the aircraft could see pressure on its availability
and readiness.
The Navy currently only has enough Osprey airframes and personnel for the primary COD
missions.
To use these additional capabilities, more aircrews, more maintenance personnel, and
more Ospreys are needed.
The Navy cannot do all these additional missions with the same number of aircraft, or if they
did, there will be no availability for COD missions.
The fleet is expected to fully transition to the CMV’s by 2028.
Currently the Pentagon is not planning to buy any additional Ospreys for any of the
military branches, besides what is currently on order.