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 "hard clutch engagement" incidents, a gearbox issue that can cause power transfer problems between engines.
The U.S. Marine Corps, despite the AFSOC grounding, will not stand down its MV-22 Osprey variant, citing different operational usage and extensive flight hours without a catastrophic event from this issue.
The Marine Corps has been aware of the hard clutch issue since 2010 and has trained its pilots to respond safely, implemented procedures for early recognition, and is actively working with industry partners to resolve the root cause.

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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.