No Osprey Stand Down for Marine Corps After AFSOC CV-22 Grounding

The U.S. Marine Corps has no immediate plan to ground its fleet of MV-22 Osprey aircraft, service officials said following news that Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) had grounded its fleet of CV-22 aircraft due to safety investigations into the aircraft’s clutch.

Kimberly Johnson

Friday, August 19, 2022 at 02:03 PM ET

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The MV-22 Osprey’s mission for the U.S. Marine Corps is the transportation of troops, equipment, and supplies from ships and land bases for combat assault and assault support. [Courtesy: Naval Air Systems Command]

Key Takeaways:

Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) grounded its CV-22 Osprey fleet due to recent incidents involving a "hard clutch engagement" issue in the aircraft's gearbox.
The U.S. Marine Corps, however, will not ground its MV-22 Osprey variant, stating they employ the platform differently and have accumulated over 533,000 flight hours without a catastrophic event from this known hazard.
The Marine Corps has been aware of the hard clutch issue since 2010, has trained its aircrews on emergency procedures, and has issued interim guidance to help in early recognition of a pending engagement.

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Two days after Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) grounded its fleet of CV-22 aircraft following incidents involving the aircraft’s clutch, the U.S. Marine Corps says it has no plan to follow suit with its platform variant, the MV-22 Osprey.

“The [U.S. Air Force] USAF employs the V-22 platform differently than the Marine Corps,” Marine Corps officials said, adding that its variant of the tilt-rotor aircraft, the MV-22, has logged more than 533,000 flight hours without a catastrophic event because of the known hazard.