Aircraft/Marines

Sea Power, Jan 2002

WING SPAN: ...............133 feet

LENGTH: ..........................98 feet

HEIGHT ..............................38 feet

WEIGHT: ................... empty, 75,562 pounds; maximum normal takeoff, 155,000 pounds; overload takeoff, 175,000 pounds

SPEED: ..............................normal cruise speed 345 mph

RANGE: ............................with maximum payload and allowance for 30 minutes at sea level, 2,046 nautical miles; with maximum fuel and 20,000-pound payload, 4,460 nautical miles

POWER PLANT .................four Allison T56-A-16 turboprop engines; eight JATO units can be used for short-field takeoff

CREW: ................................two pilots, one navigator, one flight engineer, one loadmaster

CONTRACTOR: ................Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems

UC.35

BRIEFING: The UC-35-a military version of the Cessna Model 560 Citation V Ultra-is a multipurpose low-wing, twin-engine business jet monoplane with a pod-mounted engine on each side of the aft fuselage. Two UC-35Cs were procured in fiscal year 1998 and were delivered in November and December 1999. Two additional UC-35D aircraft-versions of the Citation V Encore have been procured and were delivered in August and September 2001. The UC-35D features an improved avionics suite; quieter and more fuel-efficient engines with greater thrust; highly rugged landing gear; an improved anti-icing system; increased payload capacity; and lower maintenance costs. The UC35C/D has replaced the Marine Corps Reserve CT-39G aircraft and serves as an on-call rapid-response modern air transport for high-priority passengers and cargo with time-, place-, or mission-sensitive requirements.

WING SPAN: ......................52.2 feet

LENGTH: ..........................48.9 feet

HEIGHT: ...............15 feet

WEIGHT: ................. basic weight 10,025 pounds; maximum takeoff gross weight 16,300 pounds

SPEED: ........................maximum air speed, 574 mph

RANGE: ............................1,800 nautical miles

CEILING: ..........................45,000 feet

POWER PLANT: .................two Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5D engines

CREW: ..............................two: pilot and copilot

CONTRACTOR: ..................Cessna Aircraft Company

MV-22 OSPREY

BRIEFING: The V-22 Osprey-a tiltrotor aircraft developed by the Navy/Marine Corps and the tiltrotor team of Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing Defense and Space Group-was introduced in rollout ceremonies at Bell's Flight Research Center at Arlington, Texas, in May 1989. It is the world's first production tiltrotor aircraft and is slated to replace the aging CH-46E and CH53D helicopters as the Marine Corps' medium-lift aircraft. Designed to carry 24 combat-equipped troops, or 10,000 pounds internally (15,000 pounds externally), it can attain speeds over 300 mph and altitudes close to 25,000 feet. The aircraft has demonstrated its ability to lift an HMMWV.

Low-rate initial production of the MV-22B was authorized in FY 1997. HMT204, the CH-46E training squadron at MCAS New River, N.C., was redesignated VMMT-204 in June 1999 as the MV-22B training squadron. The MV-22B completed its Operational Evaluation-a comprehensive series of tests designed to evaluate the aircraft's operational effectiveness and suitability-in 2000 and was rated operationally effective and suitable for land operations. HMX-l's Multiservice Operational Test Team conducted extensive operationally representative missions from amphibious ships, airfields, remote sites, confined areas, ranges, and other test facilities. After modifications and further trials at sea of the aircraft's wing-fold mechanisms in November 2000, the MV22B was rated operationally effective for shipboard operations.