![]() Recalling the effort to save “Bat 21” in Vietnam, Slife said, “the challenge is … no matter how dedicated you are, if you’re not in a platform that’s survivable to the threat environment, you end up losing more people” with an attempted recovery than were downed in the first place. James Slife, deputy chief of staff for operations, added to the SASC panel that the Air Force still regards the recovery of downed Airmen a “moral imperative.” ![]() It is not particularly helpful in the Chinese AOR” or area of operations, Moore said. It was purchased for Iraq and Afghanistan. The HH-60W fleet “is for something very specific. “There are literally thousands of platforms in the Department of Defense that can do personnel recovery.” “There’s a big distinction in this portfolio between combat search and rescue and personnel recovery,” he added. Richard Moore, deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, told the Senate Armed Services airland panel on April 26 that 85 HH-60Ws “is more than sufficient” to do the combat rescue helicopter mission. ![]() “These are the kinds of things we’re looking at as an Air Force, not only for what the CV-22 is able to do for … hostage rescue but also for personnel recovery and other aspects of logistics in the Indo-Pacific,” Brown said.Īir Combat Command has stressed in recent months that it has no plans to claim Special Operations Command CV-22s to carry out the long-range combat rescue helicopter mission. In the interim, Brown suggested the CV-22 could be a solution for long-range combat rescue, as well as a resupply aircraft in the service’s new Agile Combat Employment concept, which will distribute small groups of aircraft and Airmen to remote or austere locations from central “hubs.” Mark Kelly have suggested an outgrowth of the service’s Agility Prime “flying car” technology as a possible fix. The variant has been adapted to meet the Navy’s need for ship-to-shore logistics, replacing the venerable C-2 Greyhound.īrown said the Air Force would evaluate the V-280, which won the Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition, and vehicles from “other industry partners… actually going down this path as well.”īrown did not specify those other options, but the Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant co-axial helicopter which lost the FLRAA, is available, and leaders such as Air Combat Command chief Gen. The Navy declared initial operational capability with its own unique variant of the Osprey, called the CMV-22, in February. The Air Force declared the CV-22 variant operational in 2009. The prototype joint-service V-22 rolled out in 1985 but the Marine Corps MV-22 did not enter service until 2007, having endured a lengthy and problematic development program. And oh, by the way, it’s technology that’s somewhat dated.” ![]() ![]() “Once you shut down the production line, it’s very expensive to start back up. “I don’t see us actually going to additional CV-22s or opening back ” production, Brown said. The Air Force has cut its planned buy of HH-60Ws from 108 to 85 because they can only meet requirements in the European and Middle East theaters, USAF officials have said. told the House Armed Services Committee on April 27.īrown, testifying on the fiscal 2024 budget request, was asked if the Air Force, which has purchased all the CV-22 Ospreys it plans to buy, would consider buying more to use for combat rescue in the Indo-Pacific, where long ranges challenge the new HH-60W Jolly Green IIs. The Air Force will consider the Army’s recently-selected Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft as a possible solution to its long-range combat rescue helicopter needs-but the service will also look into using CV-22s and other new aircraft, Chief of Staff Gen. ![]()
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