Tiltrotor Touters Hope First Sea Lord Is Easy Prey

Tiltrotor Touters Hope First Sea Lord Is Easy Prey
Tiltrotor Touters Hope First Sea Lord Is Easy Prey

The decline in V-22 Osprey orders from the U.S. military in coming years means the tiltrotor transport’s manufacturers are likely to spend a lot of time wooing foreign military officers at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition May 16-18 at National Harbor, Md. – especially Britain’s new First Sea Lord, Adm. Sir Philip Jones. Representatives from Bell Helicopter…

Magical Navy V-22 Buy: Now You See ‘Em, Now You Don’t

Magical Navy V-22 Buy: Now You See ‘Em, Now You Don’t
Magical Navy V-22 Buy: Now You See ‘Em, Now You Don’t

  A recent University of Michigan study found that poor families often pay higher prices for necessities because they lack enough cash on hand to make bulk purchases at lower unit prices. This “poverty penalty” could soon apply in defense acquisition. A potential case in point: The V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport. After years of hesitation, the…

Sub Builders Face Triple Threat: Ohio, Virginia, & VPM

Sub Builders Face Triple Threat: Ohio, Virginia, & VPM
Sub Builders Face Triple Threat: Ohio, Virginia, & VPM

CAPITOL HILL: It’s a problem the US Navy wants to have, but it’s still a problem. If the service gets enough money both to build its top priority, the Ohio Replacement Program nuclear missile submarine, and to keep producing its vaunted Virginia-class attack subs, then so much new work will be hitting the shipyards so rapidly that they’ll be…

Navy 2016 Budget Funds V-22 COD Buy, Carrier Refuel

Navy 2016 Budget Funds V-22 COD Buy, Carrier Refuel
Navy 2016 Budget Funds V-22 COD Buy, Carrier Refuel

  PENTAGON: The Navy 2016 budget yields to Congress’s strong opposition to the service’s previous efforts to cut the active fleet to save money. It funds nuclear refueling and overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington –that it had tried to retire — and modifies its plan to put 11 cruisers and an amphibious ship…

V-22 Perfect For COD: Navy Leaders

V-22 Perfect For COD: Navy Leaders
V-22 Perfect For COD: Navy Leaders

CRYSTAL CITY: Nudge nudge, wink wink, we love V-22s, Navy officials said here today. We couldn’t possibly confirm the Breaking Defense report that the service’s 2016 budget request buys V-22 Ospreys for the Carrier Onboard Delivery mission, they said, but if hypothetically the Navy happened to choose the V-22 to shuttle people and supplies to…

Navy Decides to Buy V-22 Ospreys for Carrier Delivery

Navy Decides to Buy V-22 Ospreys for Carrier Delivery
Navy Decides to Buy V-22 Ospreys for Carrier Delivery

The Navy will buy V-22 Osprey tiltrotors to replace its aging C-2A Greyhound turboprop aircraft in flying carrier on board delivery (COD) missions. Breaking Defense obtained a Jan. 5 memo, signed by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford. It stipulates that…

V-22 Sees Up To 100 Foreign Sales; Drives Flight Costs Down, Boosts Readiness

V-22 Sees Up To 100 Foreign Sales; Drives Flight Costs Down, Boosts Readiness
V-22 Sees Up To 100 Foreign Sales; Drives Flight Costs Down, Boosts Readiness

PARIS AIR SHOW:  Flight hour costs have dropped while readiness rates have improved for the  V-22, a rare feat indeed for a modern combat aircraft. Critics have pointed to the V-22’s readiness rates and costs as yet another reason to curtail the program, but when I asked Marine Col. Greg Masiello, manager of the Joint…