BOEING IS MODIFYING the first of as many as 129 Block B MV-22Bs to a common Block C standard under the Common Configuration-Readiness and Modernization (CC-RAM) program. The work will be carried out at the contractor’s production facility near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Marine Corps’ Osprey fleet currently includes 70 hardware and seven different software configurations. The CC-RAM will create a standard configuration for the fleet by 2026. The $57-million contract was released in August 2017.
Meanwhile, the Department of the Navy is moving forward with plans for fielding a fleet of 38 CMV-22B carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft, beginning in 2020. The service has begun conducting required environmental assessments (EAs) at NAS North Island, California, and Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia’s Chambers Field. Although both facilities will support the COD variant of the tilt-rotor Osprey, the number of aircraft assigned to each location is under consideration. The location chosen for the Osprey fleet replacement squadron (FRS) will determine the final alignment.
Under the first of two alternatives, the FRS would be located at North Island alongside one operational squadron. The second operationa…
