Modernizing the CMV-22B: A Navy Readiness Imperative

Naval power is often judged by the capabilities of the platforms at the tip of the spear, such as surface vessels, submarines, and combat aircraft. Those assets enable the United States to project power in the maritime domain, but to bring their full capabilities to bear requires readiness – a key priority for Pentagon leadership.

The CMV-22B Osprey plays a vital logistics role in carrying out its Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) mission, where its speed, range, and runway independence are essential capabilities, particularly in the vastness of the Indo-Pacific area of operations. Keeping the Carrier Strike Group supplied, connected, and fully operational is the mission of this tiltrotor aircraft.

To keep the tiltrotor aircraft ready, it is important to modernize the CMV-22B, specifically through the Nacelle Improvement program.

The Nacelle Improvement program is a modernization effort that overhauls and simplifies the internal workings of the Osprey’s nacelles. Each nacelle houses a rotating engine, which allows the aircraft to transition between vertical and horizontal flight.

The condition of those nacelles directly affects the aircraft’s reliability, maintenance cycles, and availability. According to estimates by the V-22 Joint Program Office (PMA-275), approximately 60 percent of maintenance work on V-22 Ospreys is related to the nacelle area. The 1980s-era design of the Osprey’s nacelles is anything but simple, which accounts for why they are so maintenance-intensive. With today’s technology, however, nacelle improvement results in dramatic simplification of the inner workings.

For comparison, imagine looking under the hood of an old sports car, featuring a complicated tightly packed combination of wires, hydraulic lines and belts. Then look at the very clean lines of a modern engine assembly of a brand-new sports car of today.  That’s the difference between a legacy nacelle of a 1980s-era design, and a modernized one that has undergone Nacelle Improvement. More specifically, the modernization of the nacelles replaces the original wiring and junction boxes with a more efficient point-to-point wiring system.

The Nacelle Improvement program is a proven solution that has already brought dramatic improvements to the Air Force fleet of CV-22 Ospreys. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) Commander, Lt. Gen. Michael Conoly has said, “We’ve got 31 of the 51 aircraft that have had the nacelle improvement complete, and we are seeing very tangible positive gains on that: double-digit increases in mission readiness on those tails, and close to double-digit reduction in maintenance man-hours.”

Nacelle modernization provides both near-term readiness gains and long-term sustainment benefits in availability and affordability – an increasingly important consideration as the Navy plans to operate the CMV-22B well into the future.

Delaying investments, like nacelle improvement, have its own inherent costs: lower readiness, increased maintenance, and greater pressure on the aviation workforce. Over time, this can negatively influence the confidence of warfighters who depend on reliable logistics to carry out missions at sea. Taking a proactive approach to modernization shows a stable commitment to readiness, today and in the future.

There is also a broader signal at stake. By supporting CMV-22B modernization through the Nacelle Improvement program can demonstrate that the Navy and the Department of War are committed to learning from experience across all service branches and sustaining critical platforms for the long term.

The Nacelle Improvement program exemplifies a responsible approach to effective acquisition and sustainment. There is a strong case to be made for close collaboration between manufacturer, customer, and maintainers to create a collective understanding that evolving systems create an avenue for responsible care of our fleet.

Congress, of course, has a role to play as well. Although the recent budget reconciliation package authorized $160 million to accelerate the V-22 Osprey Nacelle Improvement program, uninterrupted funding from the U.S. Congress can help prevent the stop-start cycles that lead to delays and inflated costs.

The success of the CMV-22B is often measured by what does not happen: delayed missions, personnel stuck in place, waits on parts or maintainers, or disrupted fleet operations. The Nacelle Improvement program is an essential part of the effort to ensure this success continues.

The path ahead is clear, and it’s one the Air Force has already trailblazed. The Nacelle Improvement program is essential not just to the Osprey’s readiness, but indeed to the readiness of the entire fleet.

About the Author
Capt. Christopher “Chet” Misner, USN (Ret.) is a former naval rotary-wing aviator. He has commanded a Naval Air Station and an H-60 Squadron. He currently manages naval strategic pursuits at Bell. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect those of the U.S. government.

Republished with the author’s permission from an article published in Seapower Magazine.