CV-22 Ospreys get extra upgrades for special operations.

• Author: Versprille, Allyson

Air Force Special Operations Command plans to integrate several new technologies into its fleet of CV-22 Ospreys by the early 2020s that will enhance the aircraft's performance, an AFSOC official told National Defense.

The V-22 is an important platform that fills a unique niche, said Col. Steven Breeze, the deputy director of operations at AFSOC. It "is the first aircraft that I know of that has a similar speed to the C-130 but can land vertically," he said. "There's no other aircraft that can do that with the speed of the C-130 and the range of the C-130."

With a cruising speed of 241 knots--a max of about 270 knots--and a combat radius of 500 nautical miles with one internal auxiliary fuel tank, it enables special ops forces to carry out missions in one period of darkness, leading to fewer complications and greater operational success, Breeze said.

He pointed to the failure of Desert One in 1980, an attempt to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran, as a reason why having that ability is so important.

"We need a vertical lift platform that has the speed and the range in order to execute a mission such as Desert One, and the V-22 fits that profile perfectly," he said. "We could have done that entire mission with V-22s and pulled it off in one period of darkness."

Because the platform is so crucial for special operations, AFSOC is looking at ways it can improve the aircraft's performance.

To achieve that goal, the command has near-term plans to add both a new radar and an engine filtration system to the CV-22. AFSOC is also considering putting more weapons on the tilt-rotor platform.

The modern radar will replace the aircraft's existing terrain following and avoidance system. Such radars enable pilots to fly as low as 100 feet to the ground in challenging conditions --at night, in adverse weather and in high-threat environments--while lowering the probability of detection by enemy forces. "In other words, the pilots don't even have to look outside to fly at low altitudes and it keeps them safe," Breeze said.

The current system on the CV-22 is Raytheon's APQ-186. The command plans to replace the old radar with the company's APQ-187, also known as Silent Knight. The new system will include advances in terrain following and avoidance capabilities, and will be lighter and require less power than its predecessors.

AFSOC will benefit from using Raytheon's radar because it has similar form factors as the old one--which will minimize changes to the...