Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 16, 2008 - (Page 36)

FA R N B O R O U G H 2 0 0 8 V-22’s Iraq Success Spurs Foreign Interest Successful deployment to Iraq of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft has piqued the interest of potential export customers, but they can’t be identified at this time, says Bob Kenney, executive vp and head of government programs for Bell Helicopter Textron. “The world market wanted to watch and see how the operational test went, how the deployment went,” and now “we have some very interested customers, and some that don’t window-shop. If they come knocking, they intend to buy, too,” Kenney says. He declines to say who these parties are, but adds, “You probably can guess some of them.” The Marines are happy with the V-22’s first combat deployment— Squadron VMM-263 departed the U.S. in September and returned in April—but service officials call it a test, and not the final exam. But they also say it proves that most V-22 critics are just wrong. A second squadron has taken the place of the first. VMM-162 will return to the U.S. later this year. Production is ramping up. No. 100 was delivered in March, and a recently awarded five-year contact calls for Bell and Boeing to produce another 141-167 for the Marines and 26 for the Air Force. Export customers would be worked into the production schedule, as evidenced by this comment “It looks like the sweet spot to cover the Marines, Air Force Special Ops, Congressional plusups, and international interest is about 40 or 41 ships a year over a number of years.” —Bob Kenney, executive vp and head of government programs for Bell Helicopter Textron. A V-22 Osprey in the skies of Iraq. Squadron VMM-263’s September deployment marked the first V-22s in combat. from Kenney: “It looks like the sweet spot to cover the Marines, Air Force Special Ops, Congressional plus-ups, and international interest is about 40 or 41 ships a year over a number of years.” He says, however, that Bell and Boeing are looking at the possibility of annual deliveries in the 50s or 60s. The current program of record includes 360 V-22s for the Marines, 50 for the Air Force and 45 or 50 for the Navy. The Navy buy would begin just after the end of the current five-year defense program, so it’s not included in Kenney’s “sweet spot” of 40-41 per year. Relatively few problems have been encountered by V-22s in Iraq, according to Kenney. One reason was the formation of a government-contractor team to counter dust and heat problems that might arise. VMM-263 took V-22s to the desert near Yuma, Ariz., several months before its deployment, armed with dust and heat data from other helicopters that operate in Iraq: the CH-47, the H-1 and Kiowa Warrior, and the AH-64. The exercise, called Desert Talon, helped blunt the problems. Readiness rate in theater was around 70%. The squadron did have to change out ten V-22 prop-rotor blades, but repairs were made quickly on the spot. The only “pop-up” issue in Iraq was that microscopic particles lodged in V-22 slip rings, which transfer electronic signals and power from non-rotating parts to the prop-rotor blades. But three Bell avionics engineers went to Iraq, “figured out what the problem was and then how to either avoid it or clean” the slip rings. “So,” Kenney says, “it went from being a real nail-biter to, ‘Okay, we know how to do this.’ That was the only surprise.” Iran Concorde While strolling down Piccadilly on the way to the Royal Aeronautical Society, Show News was brought up short by an apparition from another age. There, in the window of the Iran Air offices, recovered from some forgotten box in a dusty basement, is an (almost) pristine model from the days when the Shah’s vision for his airline included fleets of Concordes. The Shah and the vision are long gone, but the Concorde has survived—as a small symbol of the Iranian people’s tenacity. —Robert Hewson A Baboo EMB-190. Embraer Sells EMB-190s to Kun Peng Embraer and Chinese regional Kun Peng Airlines have signed a contract for five EMB-190 jets. The sale, valued at $187.5 million, is a landmark event in Embraer’s expansion into China. X’ian-headquartered Kun Peng is a joint venture of China’s Shen Zhen Airline and Mesa Air Group. The company has only been in operation since September 2007, but already has more than 20 routes. Separately, Embraer has a new “Parts Pool” service contract with Switzerland’s Baboo, which has three EMB-190 jets. 36 July 16, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews

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Bombardier, Shenyang $5 Billion for Composites 787 and Seven V-22s for Export Sale? Saving Fuel at SFO Raytheon Roars Into UAVs Bell Eyes ARH-70A Costs All According to Plan We Fly the PC-12NG Russia’s T-50 PAK-FA Optimistic in Israel ICAO Sim Classifications Pratt to Power New Drone Russian Conglomerate

Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 16, 2008

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