Multi-Domain Dynamics

The Core USMC Air Assets: The MV-22B and Its Role

04/16/2025
By Robbin Laird

The Osprey has provided a unique capability for shaping the USMC’s operational envelope. Its ability to land as a helicopter but fly like a plane, has allowed the Marines to engage in operations unimaginable without it.

Having first been used in operations in 2007, the aircraft is facing the need for upgrades and improvements to allow the aircraft to become more sustainable and operationally relevant as the digital age of the kill web becomes more central to joint and coalition operations.

Here is how the January 2025 DCA’s aviation plan describes the value of the Osprey to the MAGTF:

“Since the first deployment in 2007, the MV-22’s revolutionary capability has been a cornerstone of the MAGTF. The MV-22 Osprey provides medium lift assault support to ground forces in multiple theaters of operation from expeditionary sites and afloat. It also provides unmatched operational flexibility due to its combination of speed, range, payload, and aerial refueling capability. MV-22Bs currently based in Djibouti, Hawaii, and Okinawa provide the ability to respond to crisis, contingencies, and humanitarian missions across large swaths of Africa, Asia, and the Indo-Pacific region.

“As the backbone of Marine Corps combat assault transport capability, MV-22B squadrons have conducted a total of 109 operational deployments and flown over 588,000 flight hours since 2007. The MV-22B flies approximately twice as many flight hours per year as any other Marine Corps rotary-wing aircraft.

“The MV-22 maintains mishap rates on par with other Marine Aviation assets. As of 1 August 2024, the MV- 22’s 10-year (2014-2024) Class A mishap rate is 3.15 per every 100,000 flights hours, lower than the Marine Corps average of 3.24. In comparison to other aircraft in the Marine Corps inventory, the MV-22s Class A mishap rate is lower than four other TMS aircraft.”

But upgrades and improvements are needed on the aircraft to ensure its viability going forward over the next three decades.

This is how the January 2025 DCA’s aviation plan outlines those requirements:

“Configuration, inventory, and supply chain management remain the top areas of focus as the MV-22B Osprey fleet right-sizes to meet future requirements and challenges. In just under two years, the MV-22B fleet halved the total number of unique configurations and reduced inventory from 12 to 10 Primary Aircraft Authorization (PAA) per VMM. The reduction yielded a versatile, relevant, deployable, and sustainable tiltrotor force postured for the rigors of distributed aviation operations and in full support of Force Design. On-going inventory management initiatives, including MV Inventory Management (MVIM), V-22 Fleet Optimization and Reduction in Configuration Effort (VFORCE), and rigorous modification plans continue to support this end state.

“As the core of the MEU ACE and centerpiece of MAGTF amphibious lift, the Osprey must continue to evolve.

“Over the next two years we will focus on:

  • MV-22 capabilities, readiness, and sustainability for the growing fleet.
  • Modernization improvements to improve reliability and capability to ensure platform relevance through fielding of Next Generation Assault Support…
  • Aircraft survivability equipment upgrades.
  • Digital Interoperability including the MAGTF Agile Network Gateway Link (MANGL) to bring on Link 16, CDL, ANW2 and TTNT.
  • Adding mission kits to support expanded mission sets like Network On The Move- Airborne (NOTM-A), Intrepid Tiger-II Block V V4, and other sensor packages.”

Highlighting Elements of a Way Ahead

The Osprey was built in the age before the digital twin. As a result, there were several unique configurations of the aircraft which, of course, complicated the challenges of maintenance and sustainability. As noted, the Marines have focused on reducing the number of unique configurations to reduce the challenge of configuration control.

Providing for supplies necessary to operate the aircraft is crucial, and the entire joint force has faced a major challenge of providing enough ready stock of supplies, a subject which I am treating in my parallel series on how to enhance the fight tonight force.

It is also the case that the impact of the pandemic on supply chains has been significant and the general problem of shaping more robust supply chains for core platforms for the force must be met. This challenge is not unique to the Osprey, but it is often overlooked when considering readiness rates for aircraft.

There are core engineering changes which have been designed for the aircraft which provide for significant improvements in sustainability and readiness rates for the aircraft.

The most notable to date has been the nacelle improvement program, which to date only the USAF has fully embraced. The Marines are working a variant of the nacelle improvement program but have not been in the position to fully fund the more comprehensive USAF approach.

This is how Christopher Misner described the NII effort in a 13 May 2024 article:

“The Nacelle Improvement (NI) program aimed to simplify the nacelle structure, originally designed decades ago with a series of wires and junction boxes. The effort led to successful re-engineering more than 1,300 parts and using point-to-point wiring, , making manufacturing more affordable and less time-consuming.

“Nearly 60% of all maintenance actions occur within the V-22’s nacelle area, so the NI effort is designed to attack the highest reliability and readiness degraders while maximizing return on investment for the taxpayer,” says Kurt Fuller, Bell senior vice president and V-22 program manager.

“The NI program was initiated with CV-22s, the U.S. Air Force’s variant of the Osprey, and the modification has demonstrated consistently positive results.

“Before NI modification, the average maintenance time dedicated to nacelles was more than 2.5 hours per fight hour. Twenty CV-22s have undergone the NI modification and with over 4,000 hours flown, those aircraft have required only 12 maintenance hours and have not required any maintenance actions on the modified nacelles.

“This has saved the Air Force over 10,000 in total nacelle maintenance hours. Maintainability and reliability were key performance parameters in the new design to measure success, and the results have exceeded expectations.

“Delivering both short-term and long-term benefits to support the longevity of the fleet, the NI program provides immediate readiness advances that will continue to pay long-term dividends in availability and affordability.”

But as of April 2025, those numbers have increased to 27 aircraft, 6,700 hours flown and 16,200 hours saved in nacelle maintenance hours.

The other element of modernization, I will highlight which is both about a core capability but also one which enables the Osprey to enhance its role in the integrated force, namely, the digital backbone and interoperability issue. Digital interoperability and even more significantly building in a comprehensive digital backbone (which I will discuss more fully in the next article) is crucial to expanding the contribution of the Osprey to the evolving digital age kill web force.

The Osprey has fully demonstrated its ability to carry a wide variety of physical payloads and to enable a multi-mission force. With the ramping up of its digital capability – not built around roll on roll off systems – the Osprey can work with a much wider range of payloads, notably various types of launched effects associated with autonomous systems.

The unique quality of the Osprey as a platform – vertical lift with horizontal operational capabilities – can allow the operators to operate in 360-degree space like no other team. It is important to empower this platform fully going forward.

Featured photo: U.S. Army Soldiers with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment and U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing prepare to unload a Patriot missile from an MV-22B Osprey at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, Nov. 5, 2024. The prototype loading system was designed to offer a more efficient method of transporting Patriot missiles. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Gabriel Antwiler)