The V-22 Osprey: The Major Challenges, Roles, and Impacts of this Innovative Aircraft

The after taking 25 years to develop the F22 Raptor from conception to operational certification the United States Air Force (USAF) produced the world’s first 5th Generation air superiority fighter. (site) This revolutionary fighter plane leveraged its very low observable stealth (VLO) and thrust-vectoring and digital fly by wire technology, to produce an extremely fast, agile and deadly air to air combatant. (GEO P 2) However, in 2009 Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, (SECDEF) convinced the President (POTUS) and Congress to truncate the F22 program, leaving the USAF with less than 187 operational F22 Raptors, this number was well short of the 381 the USAF estimated they needed to meet their mission requirements. (AWC 1/ site) Gates made his controversial decision based on three factors. This essay will explore these factors and explain how the 2009 U.S strategic environment, the overall cost of the F22 and Secretary Gates’ desire to change the Department of Defense (DOD) all lead to the decision to limit the production of the F22 Raptor at 187 aircraft.

On July 28, 1935, the first porotype of the B-17 or also known as the B-299 took off from Boeing Field in south Seattle on its first ever test flight (Boeing “B-17”). Seattle Times reporter Richard Smith dubbed the new plane, with its many .30 caliber machine-guns, the “Flying Fortress,” (qtd.in Boeing). A name that Boeing quickly adopted and trademarked for the gigantic bomber (Boeing “B-17”). The U.S. Army Air Corps designated the plane as the B-17. Boeing created the plane in response to the Army’s request for a large, multi-engine bomber. The B-17 financed entirely by Boeing, went from the design board to flight tests in less than a year. In Boeings description of the B-17 was a low-wing monoplane that combined aerodynamic features

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was a single-engine, single-seat, metal fighter plane and ground-attack aircraft that was made by the Americans. The P-40 Warhawk fighters first flew in 1938 and caught the attention of the United States Army Air Corps, who placed the largest fighter plane order it had ever made for fighters for a count of 524 at a cost of US$13 million. This was the earliest serious fighter in WWII and did its job until better fighters came out. It was known as a safe and secure aircraft that was able to fly pilots back home after being shot up in action. Many variants of this plane were later created. In addition, the shark teeth graphics were a big feature on this plane.

The We are Marshall plane crash on Southern Airways flight 932 was one of the most horrific plane crashes of this century. All seventy-five that had been on the plane were pronounced dead at 7:36 pm on November 14, 1970 when the plane had clipped a tree on its landing, crashing into the woods. In all reports there had been no sign of engine failure or anything wrong with the vehicle. Although Hollywood did alter and omit a few details while filming We are Marshall, Hollywood did portray flight 932 accurately by illustrating the build up and outcome of the plane crash, the relationships between the coaches and the team, and the hardships the team went through to return to their normal

underwent through many fails in the attempt to capture Somalia dictator. At 3:32 pm, the mission begun with 119 vehicles, twelve aircraft, and 150 men departing from the military base that was located approximately an hour away from the target. The mission was to capture Omar Salad Elmi and Abdi Hassan Awale Queybdiid, two of Mohammed top advisers. After arriving at their target building, they capture both of the advisors. As they departed, everything started to fail. Communication was a huge role on why this mission turned out to be a rescue mission. As they departed the target building to head back to the military base, both ground and air support, suffered many injuires. After a few min a one of the two black hawks was shot down by a grenade. Black Hawk Super 6-1 is hit by a rocket grenade and crashes five blocks away from the target building. The mission then turned into a rescue mission to save the soldiers that were in the black hawk. Soldiers had to walk to the crash site, which was a very dangerous mission to go through since enemies were all over Mogadishu. As soldiers were on their way to crash number one a second hawk was shot down. Black Hawk, Super 64, is hit by another Somali rocket grenade, and crashes about a mile away from the target building. Bowden described the moments that followed the crashed: [The pilot, Dan] Jollata could hear his rotor blades whistling. Shrapnel from the blast had peppered them with holes. The aircraft sloshed

Northrop met this challenge, when in 1947 he introduced his new YB-49. Powered by eight jet engines, this one hundred and seventy-two feet wingspan monster was capable of flying at over five hundred miles per hour, at a ceiling of over forty thousand feet. Jack had taken the American flying wing off the design boards, and into the air. Unfortunately it was incredibly difficult to fly, and the air force felt that as a bomber it was too unstable and dangerous. In late 1949, in an unprecedented decision, the U.S. government ordered that all Northrop's YB-49s were to be destroyed. After the destruction of the 1st flying wing, came a perilous time in history. Relationships between the East and West were rapidly deteriorating, and the Cold War was heating up. The world was entering a new era of nuclear power.

remains, the fastest aircraft ever built. It went into service in the mid-sixties and was only recently

The root of the problem for the men is the lack of communication, communication between the crew members and between the crew with the navy. If only the SOS had been read, so many of the crew members would have been able to go home to their families and continue life. Many men wouldn't have lost their wits and inadvertently cause their own deaths.

“Air power alone does not guarantee America’s security, but I believe it exploits the nation’s greatest asset – our technical skill.” - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Second Air Force Chief of Staff. Over time, different aircraft types have been used to meet specific demands and specialize in single purposes. The F-117 Nighthawk specializes in stealth, the A-10 Thunderbolt is designed purely for Close Air Support, and the F-22 Raptor was created as an air superiority fighter. One function that has been added to the list more recently is STOVL (Short Takeoff Vertical Landing), and has been successfully exemplified by the AV-8B Harrier. This platform has been in use since the first version arrived in 1967, and is looking to be replaced by something

Although Army Aviation has endured a multitude of challenging moments throughout history, none have compared to those faced in the land that has historically dared and tried many great nations such as the Macedonian Army around 330 B.C. and the Russian Army in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Because of this, this paper will be an informative look at the challenges the United States Army Aviation Operations faced during Operation Enduring freedom in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Included in the research, I will discuss the unforgiving terrain, such as a high mountain environment Aviators operated in, the extreme temperatures, degraded visual cues, the human errors aspect, as well the enemy situation, all which tested them all.

Throughout the 20th century, the use of military aircraft often took part in deciding whether a battle or war was lost or won. The United States has been marked as notorious for successfully applying their military aviation strengths to early and mid-20th century warfare. The strategic B-29 Superfortress bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan to surrender, allowing the United States (and Allies) to claim victory, ending World War II. In the Korean War, US military aviation proved victorious as US fighter pilots were better equipped and trained, dominating their Chinese, North Korean, and Soviet Russian opponents.

After World War II, the U.S. military started repurposing target drones for reconnaissance missions. The Ryan Firebee I, which demonstrated in 1951 the ability to stay aloft for two hours while reaching an altitude of 60,000 feet, was among of the first unmanned aircraft to undergo such a conversion. Turning the Ryan Firebee into a reconnaissance platform led to the development of the Model 147 Fire Fly and Lightning Bug series, both of which were used extensively during the Vietnam war. During the height of the Cold War, the U.S. military turned its focus toward stealthier spy aircraft. A notable example of this is the Mach 4 Lockheed

Since the dawn of aviation in the United States Navy, training aircraft have played an integral role in the progression of both the aviation program and the pilot’s making the system run smoothly. These planes can not only be seen as stepping stones in a pilot’s aviation timeline, but can also be viewed through history as landmarks on the evolution of the Naval Aviation program as a whole. The shifts in technology and needs of the program can be seen when the history of the multitude of training aircraft is analyzed.

May 11, 1996, ValuJet 592, a DC-9-32, crashed shortly after departing Miami, Florida. The recorders stopped recording about 40-50 seconds before impact. All 111 onboard

Aerial Veh: The aerial veh maybe in various shapes and based on different physics of aerodynamics. It may be a copter, a plane, a rocket or an air ship. It further consists of the following parts: