V-22 to get a tanker option

[ClaudeJ]

(not a DB request yet, as it's not gonna be ops before 2017 and we ain't have a CV22 for that year, it's simply to keep an eye on it here)

V-22 to get a tanker option
Joshua Stewart, Staff Writer 10:37 a.m. EST December 28, 2014



"The aerial refueling capability is going to be the next thing," for the Osprey, Maj. Douglas Thumm, the plans officer for the V-22 at Headquarters Marine Corps, said.
The Osprey's tanker system is in the early stages of development and won't be ready until 2017, he said.
Giving the V-22 this new capability won't pigeon-hole the aircraft as a tanker and the Osprey will primarily be used to fly Marines and their gear. The tanker system is a piece of roll-on, roll-off equipment that will be temporarily installed on a particular aircraft, allowing it to switch between different types of missions, Thumm said.
Pictures of test flights show the system using a flexible hose, rather than a rigid boom, to connect the V-22 tanker to other aircraft.

Since it entered operations in 2007, the Corps has added an optional belly-mounted machine gun to the aircraft, and they're now trying to develop a missile system to increase the Osprey's firepower.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story/m ... /20804783/




Edit 30/12:

[magi]

this is very cool and its a roll on roll off deal.... there are going to be ASW and AEW versions also.....

[hellfish6]

I put in a request for the tanker, ASW and AEW versions in the DB3k thread, but due to a general lack of info (especially on the AEW/ASW variants) I suspect they're toward the bottom of the priority list.

[cf_dallas]

I can dream up some JMSDF scenarios where those would be handy. Or Italy, UK, Korea, Australia, etc. Anyone with a light carrier.

[magi]

cool hellfish.... there should be some good info on the AEW variant as the british have expressed and interest in it for quit some time now.......

[hellfish6]

Here's a link to the request, for posterity's sake:

EV-22, SV-22, KV-22

[magi]

Yup.... I checked your post out… It is a very interesting platform indeed.... With potential for many useful variations… The idea being able to mission tailor with different modules is fascinating…