Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) released a comprehensive review of the V-22 Osprey last week and recommended more than 30 actions to be taken to enhance the platform’s safety and readiness.
NAVAIR ordered the in-depth review of the V-22 performance in September 2023 to identify plans to improve the platform’s safety and readiness. The Department of the Navy and Services are actively implementing the review’s 32 safety and readiness recommendations.
“In coordination with V-22 service leaders, NAVAIR has developed action plans to mitigate safety deficiencies,” Vice Adm. John E. Dougherty, NAVAIR Commander. “We are continuously evaluating procedural compliance to prevent mishaps as well as strengthening airworthiness controls to establish clear risk thresholds.”
The review found that the V-22 platform had accumulated safety risk due to four factors – inadequate timeline for implementation of material and non-material fixes, non-compliance with established airworthiness and safety of flight procedures; lack of airworthiness standards for assessing risks; and challenges at the joint program office in implementing safety remediations across the platform. In terms of readiness, the review found the platform had missed readiness targets due to the joint program not uniformly sharing and implementing known aviation maintenance best practices across the services, Joint v-22 programs operating suboptimized supply systems and maintenance programs, persistent reliability issues, and inventory management challenges.
NAVAIR said that in accordance with recommendations in the review, it would hold regular progress reviews to improve cross-service coordination and increase stakeholder engagement.
“Through ongoing analysis and targeted action, we remain committed to improving the V-22’s performance and safeguarding the warfighters who rely on this platform,” Dougherty said.