▶ 0:07:12identified long-standing mechanical reliability issues, particularly in the drivetrain, as well as high maintenance demands, past short partages, and challenges in sustainment and data use. Both reviews also underscored the importance of discipline risk management and clear communication across the joint program office and the services. We must put these challenges into perspective. Operators still have missions and these material issues have contributed to low mission capable rates across the fleet.
▶ 0:07:41As a department approaches the end of V22 production, it is essential that ongoing reliability upgrades and sustainment reforms are fully implemented and sustained. The men and women who fly and maintain this aircraft deserve confidence that safety remains a top priority and we need these aircrafts for operational requirements. We appreciate our witnesses joining us here today and look forward to their testimony as we continue our oversight of this important program.
▶ 0:08:08I'd like it to turn it over to ranking member Joe Courtney of the SE Power Projection Forces. Next,
▶ 0:08:17Kelly and Chairman Bergen Bergman who's joined us uh for organizing uh today's hearing. Thank you to Admiral Dhy, General Walsh, and Ms. Modowski for joining us to discuss this urgent issue that pertains to the safety of our war fighters in the need for a platform that can transport troops and equipment and conduct search and rescue with speed and range.
▶ 0:08:36The V22 program has been a focus of the Armed Services Committee after the catastrophic crash in Japan in November 2023, which occurred on the heels of fatal accidents in June 2022 and August 2023. Under both chairs, we have had briefings in the Armed Services Committee over the past couple of years, and a request was made by HASK for GAO to conduct a review of the V22.
▶ 0:09:01Today, this hearing follows the issuance of independent reviews by Naval Air System Command and the Government Accountability Office. As I've stated in prior proceedings, I view these reviews in the same light as the reviews that were conducted by Congress and the Navy after the catastrophic collisions in 2017 of the USS Fitzgerald and the USS McCain. Like the two mishaps, Fitzgerald and McCain resulted in an unacceptable loss of life of service members who were performing their jobs in a peaceime environment.
▶ 0:09:31As those collisions were indicative of systemic issues with our surface fleet, V22 is indicative of broader systemic issues with the Navy aircraft readiness. In 2017, the oversight by Congress with the Navy's collaboration led to a systemic led to systemic improvements. In fact, at the insistence of Senator John McCain, the recommendations of the Navy's comprehensive review were actually codified in the National Defense Authorization Act.
▶ 0:09:56That intervention has ensured that seaman are fully qualified before going underway and resulted in an appreciable drop in mishaps. After the C CV22 crash off the coast of Japan in 2023, the services grounded the planes and incorporated v various new maintenance and safety protocols such as a redesigned gearbox and a triple melt and triple melt steel components to mitigate deadly risk.
▶ 0:10:20While those protocols have thus far been successful in preventing loss of life, mechanical issues still plague the program. As GAO recommended, significant sustainment investments particularly in repair and spare parts will need will be needed to make the V22s operate safely.
▶ 0:10:39Uh both uh the subcommittee and I are I I am sure are look forward to working with the services in the joint program office as the department lays out its fiscal year 2027 budget request so that there is sufficient investment to follow in on those mechanical um changes that we need to to implement. But mechanical readiness is only just one element of the V22's issues. Effective and open communication with the JO and the services as well as our allies operating aircraft variants is critical to fix this program.
▶ 0:11:09One of the key findings of the GAO report was that quote the services have not proactively shared information from hazard and accident reporting with Osprey units across military services. The department concurred with this recommendation and I was pleased to hear last week from Admiral Dherty and General Walsh about the improved communication and review structure which the Navy and Marine Corps are conducting for this aircraft and encourage the services to continue.
▶ 0:11:34Routine meetings are just the start though and I hope this hearing is used as an opportunity to lay out as a structured systemic upgrade in communications and information sharing amongst the services that are that are flying the V22. I also believe that we should explore the possibility of legislative action to codify elements of these recommendations like Senator McCain uh pushed for in the aftermath of the 2017 surface collisions.
▶ 0:12:00The possibility of legislative action to codify elements of these recommendations like in the aftermath of 2017 would send a powerful message to our service members and the public that real change is happening. If undertaken, I hope that this task is something the department and the committee can work together on to enable ser the services to operate readily and effectively and protect the the lives of our service members. And with that, I yield back.
▶ 0:12:25I thank the gentleman and noted your recommendations. Uh Mr. Courtourtney. Now recognize uh Mr. Bergman uh the chairman of readiness.
▶ 0:12:37Thank you, Chairman Kelly for recognizing me. Um, I am particularly pleased to be working with you, Ranking Member Courtourtney, and Ranking Member Garende. Um, you might say we got a few old dogs up on this day, but we've been around a long time. Uh, done a lot. And I look at our our newer members here who bring the vitality and uh to the the committee and uh we're better when we work together.
▶ 0:13:06You know, we've got, let's face it, we got problems with the V22 program. We have had we, those of us who flew uh I've never flown one, but I did fly the simulator when it first came out, and it boy, an old 46 pilot had to change some things fairly quickly to understand how to keep it going in the direction. But having said that, at the onset, I just want on a very serious note to highlight the incredible capability that the V22 Osprey program provides.
▶ 0:13:35The extended range, increased speed and expanded lift op options when compared to legacy rotary wing capabilities are essential in maintaining air superiority in the future conflicts. It is not surprising that the army chose a V22 Osprey variant as their long range uh future assault aircraft.
▶ 0:13:57While I remain convinced that the V22 Osprey program is essential, I find the trends associated with the costs and mission capability rates particularly troubling. The V22 Osprey faces readiness challenges due to its complex design, high maintenance manhour requirements, inefficient supply system, and current sustainment strategy.
▶ 0:14:18These factors have led to a persistently low mission capable rate and a 30% increase in operating and maintenance costs per flight hour over the past four years. Undoubtedly, the numbers of hangar queens that are being parted out to support the fleet is excessive. These readiness trends are out of line with the balance of the naval aviation enterprise and need to be rapidly addressed.
▶ 0:14:45Cumulative risk posture of the V22 platforms has been growing since initial fielding. The 28 unresolved risk assessments averaging about nine years is unacceptable. I am pleased that the comprehensive report acknowledges this problem.
▶ 0:15:01We need to be aggressive in addressing all of these long-term systemic risk issues by addressing the limitations associated with mission capability rates and ensuring an enduring V22 Osprey joint program office methodology of addressing existing challenges. I am confident that we can equally address current and emerging and emerging safety concerns. We need to be a learning organization that prioritizes safety of our air crew above all things.
▶ 0:15:31I appreciate Chairman Kelly's support for this important hearing and I yield back the balance of my time.
▶ 0:15:37I'd like to turn it over to the ranking member of the readiness uh subcommittee, Mr. Gar Meny.
▶ 0:15:44Uh thank you, Chairman Kelly and Chairman Bergman and my partner, Ranking Member Courtney. I would also like to welcome our witnesses from the department in the GAO. The GAO has been an important partner to the readiness subcommittee and I thank your team for investigating the V22 accidents in response to a letter that chairman then chairman Waltz and I sent some time back and thank you all for appearing at the hearing today.
▶ 0:16:13Uh we cannot overlook the problems connected with the V22, the accidents that have plagued the aircraft since it was entered into force with 20 service members having lost their lives between fiscal year 2022 and 2024 alone. Fatalities and mechanical failures have connected to them and led to numerous operational pauses of the uh most recently in December 23.
▶ 0:16:43While the V22 is an impressive and valuable asset to the military, these continuing mishaps are simply unacceptable and action must be taken. I'm looking forward to hearing from the GAO and the department [clears throat] on how we're prioritizing safety and how we address the risks and how the recommendations recently uh in the V22 comprehensive review will be implemented, including new material fixes and efforts to share vital maintenance information
▶ 0:17:13between the services. Furthermore, I'd like to hear what we can do, what can be done to accelerate such upgrades and changes. time frames for the replacement and retrofits that stretch into 2033 and 2034 are simply too far out and not acceptable. That simply means that risks of lives of more of our brave men and women.
▶ 0:17:37Lastly, I'd like to hear from GAO thoughts on how the department plans and what they might have overlooked and what can be done to address the many gaps or any gaps. At present, the department plans to keep flying the V22 for at least 30 more years. If this can be if this is the be the case, then more r more robust sustainment framework must be started today for the sake of our service members and future missions.
▶ 0:18:05With that, I yield back and look forward to the information. Thank you.
▶ 0:18:09Thank you, Mr. Garandi. Now, I'll intro thank you and I'll recognize our witnesses. We have Vice Admiral John Dardy, Commander Naval Air Systems Command, Brigadier General David Walsh, Program Executive Officer, Anti- Air Anti-ubmarine Warfare, Assault and Special Missions Programs. I love the way you guys do these titles. And Miss Diana Maldowski, uh, director, Defense Capabilities and Management, Government Accountability Office.
▶ 0:18:39And Admiral Dhy is over to you. Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Courtourtney, Chairman Bergman, Ranking Member Gar Mendy, distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to address the status of the V22 program. The V22 is a unique and indispensable capability for our nation's armed forces.
▶ 0:19:03As the world's only operational tiltrotor aircraft, it combines the vertical lift of a helicopter with the speed and range of a turborop aircraft, enabling missions that no other platform can accomplish. Across the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, the V22 has transformed how we execute expeditionary operations, special missions, and critical logistics in every theater. That said, this program has not been without challenges.
▶ 0:19:32During its 20 years of operational service, the V22 has faced complex technical issues and tragically the loss of service members. We honor their sacrifice by committing ourselves to the continued safe operation of this is remain our top priority. Evidence of this commitment was our initiation of the V22 comprehensive review in September 2023 to address concerning safety and readiness trends.
▶ 0:20:01This review along with the GAO report identified actionable recommendations to improve safety and readiness and reaffirm the airworthiness of this platform. Of the 32 recommendations in the comprehensive review, 24 are already closed and the remaining are on track for completion. We are also actively implementing the GAO's five Both reviews identified the need for increased oversight and discipline follow-through.
▶ 0:20:28To that end, we've already established the joint V22 leadership forum. This body brings together cross-ervice leaders from the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force to share information, assess our performance, and remove barriers to safe and effective operations. This this body reports annually to the service vice chiefs on our performance across safety and readiness outcomes.
▶ 0:20:52In addition, I report monthly to the secretary of the Navy on our progress to plan and driving the findings in the comprehensive review to closure. The comprehensive review was released in December, but we did not wait to take actions on the findings. For example, we have already begun fielding an improved proprotor gearbox with more robust gears, which mitigates the risk of past failures due to microscopic impurities.
▶ 0:21:18Until these gear gears are fielded, the aircraft will continue to operate under the airworthiness controls established in March 2024, which have proven effective. In addition, we have dramatically reduced the rate of hard clutch engagements to zero since implementing life limits on the input quill assembly in February 2023. And we are qualifying a new, more robust design to be fielded in late 2027.
▶ 0:21:46To address future safety and readiness of the V22, we are developing a midlife service upgrade to modernize the drive system, airframe, and avionics. These upgrades will significantly improve readiness while enabling future modernization to keep the V-22 ready to fight well into the 2050s. Members of the subcommittee, the V22 remains a cornerstone of US military capability. It provides unmatched operational reach and un and operational flexibility.
▶ 0:22:15Whether conducting special operations, assault support, or logistics resupply, the V22 is in demand across every theater. We are committed to the continued safe operation and readiness of the platform. Thank you for your continued support of naval aviation and the V22 program. And I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:22:35And I now recognize Brigadier General Walsh, I'm sorry.
▶ 0:22:41Thank you, sir. Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Courtney, Chairman Bergman, Ranking Member Garam Mendy, distinguished members of the SE Power and Readiness Subcommittees, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to address the status of the V22 Osprey program.
▶ 0:22:58In my role as a program executive officer for air anti-ubmarine warfare, assault and special mission programs, I'm responsible for the V22 joint program office, which manages the development, testing, fielding, and sustainment of the V22 Osprey across all I work side by side with Vice Admiral Dockerty and the Nav Air team, and I want to echo his comments regarding our commitment to safety and transparency.
▶ 0:23:23I would also like to thank Miss Maldowski of the GAO for joining us today and I appreciate the GAO's partnership in addressing V22 safety. The V22 program office that ensures the continued airworthiness and readiness of this critical capability is truly a joint effort staffed by personnel from the Marine Corps, the Navy and the Air Force.
▶ 0:23:45Our team is implementing all recommendations from the recent comprehensive review NGO report driving improvements that will keep the operate Ospray mission ready for decades to The V22 provides unmatched operational capability and flexibility. It's in high demand across the joint force because of the unique warf fighting advantage it provides our warriors. We owe the men and women who count on this platform every day the safest, most ready aircraft that we can provide.
▶ 0:24:14and we are fully committed to doing just that. Thank you for your continued support of our service members of naval aviation and the V22 Osprey program. I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:24:26I now recognize Miss Modski.
▶ 0:24:30Chairman Cali and Bergman, ranking members Courtourtney and Garmendy, and members of the subcommittees, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss our work on the V22 Osprey program. After 20 years of operations, the Osprey continues to face significant challenges that limit its capability. Mission capable rates are lagging. Maintenance burdens are heavy. Safety outcomes have not steadily improved.
▶ 0:25:00Recent fatal accidents, including a 2023 crash and subsequent fleet grounding, underscore the need for decisive action. While GAO has reported on development and sustainment challenges with the Osprey for over four decades, today I will focus on three key takeaways from our December 2025 safety report. Negative accident trends, unresolved safety risks, and communication gaps.
▶ 0:25:30First, serious accidents remain high. We found Marine Corps and Air Force Osprey accident rates for the most serious mishaps, those the class A and class B, rose sharply in 2023 and 2024, being 36 88% higher than prior 8-year averages. The Osprey consistently exceeded serious accident rates for most Navy and Aircraft types.
▶ 0:26:02These accidents rarely stem from a single cause. They most often involve material failures and human error tied to supervision, training, and risk management, appearing in 57% of the causes we reviewed. Second, risks are identified but not closed. DoD lacks a comprehensive way to ensure that safety risks are resourced, and resolved.
▶ 0:26:31The problem is not identifying risks. The problem is closing them. We found 28 system safety risks, including serious risks tied to loss of life or aircraft, unresolved for an average of nine years. At the same time, maintenance and operational risks were considered outside the scope of safety working groups despite being major contributors in accident data.
▶ 0:27:00Units described to us heavy maintenance workloads that reduced aircraft availability and limited air crew experience. But these risks are not consistently captured in risk mitigation Third, communication gaps persist. Communication remains fragmented between the program office, the services, and the operational units.
▶ 0:27:25Squadrons told us that hazard and accident data is stovepiped across the service with no regular forum for sharing emergency procedures. As a result, lessons learned are not consistently shared and risks identified in one part of the enterprise are not always visible to others until an accident occurs. How do we move forward?
▶ 0:27:51DoD has committed to addressing our and Naval Air Service Systems Command has committed to resolving risks across the program. These are important steps, but the Osprey has been reviewed many times before. So, how do we ensure that current actions will lead to timely and lasting improvements?
▶ 0:28:16Making this effort different will depend on whether DoD can establish clear accountability, define milestones, secure adequate funding, and report regularly on progress. Congress plays a critical role in overseeing this effort to ensure the Osprey's full potential is realized. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:28:40I thank the witnesses and and and and I commit and I want you guys to be a part of the process with Mr. Courtney and I as we review what how we should make legislation to codify some of the some of the things that we have coming forward because we we not only want to do it, we want to do it right. And with that, I recognize myself for questions. Admiral Dockerty, I I I listen to other people when they pronounce your name correctly.
▶ 0:29:06Uh and then General Walsh, uh how does the V22 joint program office share information on aircraft operating procedures across the services? Thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman. The V22 takes our uh obligation to share across the services very very seriously and it starts at the joint program office where as I mentioned we have personnel from all three services working together daily.
▶ 0:29:35In addition to that, we have regular forums, some of which are have been uh reinforced and reinstated by the recommendations of the comprehensive review and the go report where their services come together on a regular basis from the ' 06 level and in the program office all the way up to the fourstar level where Admiral Doerty reports monthly to the Secretary of Navy on progress against the recommendations.
▶ 0:29:58Sir, just let me add to that that both in the GAO report and our internal comprehensive review um this uh sharing of data across the services and then senior leader awareness of the risk on the platform was identified as a gap and we've updated our policy um and uh our governance structure to ensure that I as the airworthiness authority have visibility um on all of the risk as they uh manifest on this platform. form.
▶ 0:30:29Thank you, Admiral. Uh, General Walsh, what specific hardware upgrades and modernization efforts are planned across all V22 variants and services, and how is the JO managing cost impacts and trade-offs among the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force? The program right now has several um several efforts across both safety and readiness to improve the performance of the V22.
▶ 0:30:55Starting from the most the closest to uh time now we're already feeling improvements to prop rotor gearbox incorporating stronger more robust robust steel into the uh into the aircraft. Those are delivering right now uh to all three services. We are also redesigned the input coil assembly which was the cause of our hard clutch engagements. That effort is in testing right now and we'll begin feeling to the services.
▶ 0:31:20We are implementing an Osprey drive shaft uh system safety and health information system that will provide the maintainers in the air crew better awareness of vibrations that are growing in the gearboxes. And beyond that we have improvements in the cells that will increase the maintainability and the availability of the aircraft.
▶ 0:31:39Further into the future, we're looking to field the V22 cockpit technology replacement initiative to address obsolescence issues, increasing readiness, and beyond that, the V22 aircraft modernization plan, which will keep our readiness and safety going into the 2050s. Thank you, General. And Miss Miss Maldowski, how has the Department of War responded to GAO's recommendations on the V22 program?
▶ 0:32:08And in your assessment, how well positioned is DOW to implement those recommendations in a meaningful and timely way?
▶ 0:32:17DoD agreed with all five of our recommendations and it stated that it would incorporate them into relevant policies and procedures. Um, specifically, uh, DoD highlighted its commitment to safety, including developing joint standards for improving safety. So these are definitely positive steps.
▶ 0:32:38Um as the department implements our recommendation, we would however like to see it addressed at three key elements addressed. Um first in the responses we received from DoD. We did not necessarily see a systematic way to address um risks, safety risks associated with the operations and maintenance of uh of the Osprey.
▶ 0:33:05Um, and again, this would be uh an important opportunity because consistently in the dozens of service members that we spoke to across the Osprey units, risks associated with maintenance and air operating the aircraft were always noted as safety issues. And again, this was also in the data we reviewed. So, a systematic way to look at those risks will improve safety outcomes.
▶ 0:33:33Second, um we believe that the there is room to be more explicit in the oversight structure for resolving risk. Um my I understand that a new memorand of agreement has been signed between the services for the management of V22. These this is an important step.
▶ 0:33:53Um, I would say that one additional item to that MOA would be an explicit reference to safety in those leadership discussions that the um the program is planning on holding.
▶ 0:34:09And finally uh again of we want to see a process for communicating hazard information not only from the program offices down to the units but from the units across the services. What we consistently heard from the squadrons is that right now this is a informal process.
▶ 0:34:33uh the this the service members the pilots talk to each other and hey cross but not anything that's formalized and we think that is an important thing to reducing risk
▶ 0:34:44and my time is expired and uh I now recognize the ranking member and my friend Mr. Joe Courtney
▶ 0:34:50thank you uh Mr. um Mr. Chairman, again, Miss Malowski, in your opening remarks, I think you really put it really well said, you know, how do we make this review, given all the other reviews in the past, how do we make this one different? And and again, um, you know, I'm glad to hear the chair, you know, is ready. I'm sure Mr. Bergman and Mr. Garmendy as well. I mean, that, you know, we we have a chance to put pen to paper this year in terms of the NDAA and hopefully we can find ways to just kind of really solidify, you know, some of the recommendations.
▶ 0:35:20your your report in um you know which had amazing sections there about interviews that you did with pilots um support staff and it it really laid out what you described is the sort of disparity that exists in terms of just awareness of different problems even the flight manuals are different um and so um you know it just seems like there's some pretty common sense simple uh fixes you know that really um your recommendation hopefully
▶ 0:35:50um are going to result in in like I said earlier real real change. One of the issues in terms of material which uh again I think General Walsh you mentioned this is that um you know the cracking in the gearbox there's and we talked to industry a little bit that you know there actually is some I think good work being done for sort of enhanced uh like triple melt um design and um construction of the of the gear boxes.
▶ 0:36:18Is that happening right now in terms of you know the whether it's Navy and Marine Corps um planes?
▶ 0:36:26Yes, Congressman those are being fielded right now. The new 123 proper gear boxes are being produced at a rate of 12 per month going to all three services.
▶ 0:36:36So because again it looked like and again your office was very good about notifying I think a number of us there was a crack in a gearbox that was detected just actually last week or so that's there. Again, the pilot did everything right and landed the the plane safely.
▶ 0:36:49But I mean, when you do the math, 12 a month and then the number of um Ospreys, I mean, if again, that's another way Congress can hopefully really sort of be very focused in terms of, you know, when your budget submissions come over here to make sure that um we get this done as fast as we possibly can because again, it sounds like there was a real solution that was developed. Admiral Doerty, you're nodding your head. Maybe you wanted to comment. Uh yes sir.
▶ 0:37:16So our analysis shows that going from the double milk ears to the triple milk ears will reduce the probability of this happening by an order of magnitude. It will actually take this risk from a serious risk down to a medium risk. Um so we appreciate all the support um to to fund that effort which is fully funded today uh to get these gears fielded across the
▶ 0:37:36Thank you. And um uh again as we sort of move forward um after today um the five recommendations that were included in the GAO report as well as some of the other um sort of uh issues that you were identified um we we really want to engage uh with GAO in terms of as I said trying to um you know provide a lift to this process so that as I said there there's going to be um something very um enforcable by law
▶ 0:38:06um but you know also you know out there for for uh the public and the families of the service members who lost that actually there that you know what happened is something that resulted in in Congress taking action u to hopefully fix this problem with that I yield back
▶ 0:38:24I now recognize the chairman of the readiness 7 committee m uh Mr. Bergman.
▶ 0:38:28Thank you, Chairman Kelly. I'd like to start with a kind of a statement here on the on the front end. You know, as regards to readiness, the Air Force, as you all know, has invested and incorporated the the cell pro the cell improvement program beginning back in 2021, and they have seen significant results. I would highly recommend that you all look at following that lead uh resourcing this proven initiative.
▶ 0:38:58It is not theoretical. It is proven and the data that I have seen has been very positive. You know there's it's okay to copy another service. We may want to have the different the unique service cultures, but you know, imitation or copying is a very sincere form of flattery that will in the end increase mission effectiveness and save lives.
▶ 0:39:24Um, I'm going to not address my questions to any one of the three of you in particular. I'm going to state the question. I'd like to hear any or all of your comments if you're okay with that. um V22 availability is a 60% mission capable rate acceptable for the V22 and you could just say yes or no. Uh so sir uh readiness is a top priority uh for the service.
▶ 0:39:53Um we have clear targets across the V22 fleet for all the services. We are not at those numbers today. Um and we do know the root cause of our performance and are going to close that gap to achieve the readiness that we need.
▶ 0:40:07Can you give me a couple of steps that you're taking to you know definitive steps that you're taking to increase uh uh mission capabilities and as an adjunct to that uh what steps can we in Congress take uh to support a more effective V22 Osprey program?
▶ 0:40:25Uh yes sir. I I'll hand it over to General Walsh here in a second, but um generally the issues uh are from the supply chain um and us having the the repairables and the consumables that we need to operate the aircraft. Uh the program office is uh is highly focused on that and closing those gaps. And I appreciate um this body's continued support for the funding of our flight hour program and our omen accounts uh which helps fund that sustainment ecosystem. Over to General Walsh.
▶ 0:40:54I'd say to what Admiral Dockerty said, we do have a discipline process inside the program to identify the drivers, analyze root causes of our readiness uh challenges. And we're implementing measures to increase supply availability, increase maintainability, and reduce the maintenance workload for our marines, sailors, and airmen that are out there. And that's an all hands effort across the services, our NAV air partners, fleet, and industry to make sure we get the right parts produced and into those marines, sailors, airmen's hands to do that work.
▶ 0:41:23Some of the specific efforts that we're working on right now is addressing obsolescence and then you mentioned the cell improvements. One of the benefits of the joint program and the close coordination between services is we understand the uh the benefits that the air force is already seeing within the cell improvements and both of the other services have already committed to starting those programs on Navy and Marine Corps aircraft.
▶ 0:41:43So what I what I just heard you say was that you all have established a comprehensive supply system for tracking parts in the maintenance system. Is that up and running? We have Yes,
▶ 0:41:54Okay. Um, how effective then is the is the JO at managing this disagregated uh maintenance system?
▶ 0:42:04The joint program office along with our industry partners and our partners in the supply system at naval systems supply systems command and DA do a good job of understanding what our uh our most challenging parts are and working with our industry partners to get those delivered to our marines and sailors.
▶ 0:42:21Okay. Once it's one thing to have the availability of parts, it's another thing to have the availability of the maintainers to to do the work. Um costs per flying, however, have increased roughly 30% over the last four years. What steps is the V22 Osprey program office taking to make V22 a more cost effective as well as safe program? But let's just deal with what are you doing on the cost effectiveness side.
▶ 0:42:48Just as we do with our supply system and our safety issues, we have a process to identify what our cost drivers are. We have a reliability control board that talks through the the most challenging parts. We understand the elements of our cost per flight hour and we look to drive those down systemically across the
▶ 0:43:06Yeah. And I'm sure I won't speak for uh Mr. Gar Mendy, but he and I think a lot alike on so many things. We like to see numbers and we like to see performance stats. So anything you can provide for us, we'll consume as as members and also as our staff. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yel back.
▶ 0:43:25I now recognize ranking member Gar Mandy, my friend.
▶ 0:43:31Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's at some point it becomes a tireless process of trying to build safety into military operations. Uh all too often it appears as though the demand for the overcomes the demand for safety.
▶ 0:43:57Uh and that has resulted in at least one of the most serious recent accident at least in in my opinion that the mission demand overrode the safety. Um so we have focused on the safety issue for many years here trying to drive into the military the necessity for safety.
▶ 0:44:18Um I think we're losing that fight or can you two gentlemen tell me that we're not losing it and that safety is not the least priority and the mission is the first priority. Uh so sir I would tell you as the airworthiness authority at NAVAIR um it is my my first duty to ensure that the platform is airworthy and safe for operations.
▶ 0:44:45Um, I believe that through um the the mishaps and the engineering investigations that we've done um over the past several years and then certainly from the GAO's report and our comprehensive review um we've identified clear actions that we're taking uh to include uh the controls that are in place uh for their our aircraft that are flying today.
▶ 0:45:07Uh so that is our top priority and it will remain my top priority as the airworthiness authority As Admund Doerty said, safe operations are the top priority for the program and military uh military aviation is rooted in a longstanding culture of safety.
▶ 0:45:27In 20 years of operations across around the world and austere operations, we've made continuous improvements to this platform including almost 250 hardware and software improvements to reduce or eliminate risks and we continue to do that. We have a rigorous process for um and mitigating uh those risks. These are complex machines built for combat, but we do owe it to our service members to make sure they are safe every time they go out and fly these. We understand where our mishap drivers are.
▶ 0:45:57We understand where there's in the design, there's elements in the operations and maintenance where there are risks and we are diligent working to reduce or eliminate those. uh from for the GAO, your questions about maintenance uh seem to be found in every one of your Uh how is the military addressing the maintenance issue and what is the role of the contractor
▶ 0:46:27bill and its acquisition [snorts] of other companies? If you can speak to that. Yeah, you're absolutely right that readiness issues and maintenance remain a problem not just for the of course but across many different aircraft types um in re reviews we recently uh reported that only four of 49 aircraft types actually met their mission capable rates uh over the last 10 years.
▶ 0:46:56So it's not just an offspray problem. I it is a problem across the departments. Um and I think it's important to zoom out a little bit and ask how did we get here?
▶ 0:47:10Um as you know the Osprey as when we've spoken here is a complex acquisition program and it it the requirements set drove a very complex engineering solution without necessarily enough attention on how the op the aircraft could be operated and s So I think part of this is to think about not just where we are today but in the
▶ 0:47:40future. How can we build sustainment into programs at the beginning? Um and I say this because operations and sustainment represents 70% of a of a weapon systems life cycle cost. and you those costs for on ands are built into that si to that program when it's only about 10% complete.
▶ 0:48:04So the changes that we're seeing now that the on the Osprey are good and yes are necessary to keep this aircraft flying until the 2050s. But if you really want to bring change, we need to bring in a better focus on sustainment in the initial design phase.
▶ 0:48:24GAO has a body of work looking at leading practices that commercial companies do and the way they those commercial companies do it to develop complex systems. Part of that is bringing in the users in this case would be the maintainers the pilots early into the development cycle to help develop the design and that is how you would truly make changes. Um your last question regarding the contractor.
▶ 0:48:52I will defer to the gentleman here to discuss what costs um Bell Boeing has actually um had to to pay. But it's my understanding that since not those risks were accepted by the Navy many years ago um the Navy would pay for any costs associated with the changes. I'm see that I'm out of time, but there should be I'll have some followup, I'm sure. Thank you.
▶ 0:49:21And if you guys uh Admiral, if y'all can respond for the record, General, if y'all can respond for the record to his question, not now, but in writing, we would really appreciate that. And I now recognize uh Miss Kiggins.
▶ 0:49:36Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the brief and and the work that you're doing. I know we've had several briefs in this committee just to talk about the progression of V22 and addressing some of the safety concerns. I just was wondering about crew confidence, what that looks like out there. I mean, we're we're talking about the the the ways we're tracking mechanical problems while we're fixing them. What is it like for the pilots and air crew? Are they still confident when they get in that aircraft that they can uh can complete the mission?
▶ 0:50:00Is there are there are there is there any high turnover rates or people saying, you know, we're not taking this aircraft because we're worried about this? just curious where their mental state is.
▶ 0:50:09Uh yes, ma'am. Uh thanks for the question. Um I would say that crew confidence is high in this platform. Um and just like the GAO went out and talked to the units uh during this time of investigation, we did as well. Um we did find some uh gaps in the flight hours that we want to get our aviators. Part of that was due to our focus on safety and some of the groundings that we had to go through.
▶ 0:50:33Uh but uh I will tell you that we have talked to many many of the air crews and they have confidence in this platform and are getting the training they need.
▶ 0:50:41Okay. Thank you. And uh you know I remember back in the day and I was 46 pilots. So when we we read the books and we looked and we got the hazraps and 46s were kind of the predecessor for the Osprey. So uh and and the reasons we no longer fly 46 and went to to a V22 platform. I can appreciate uh some of the same concerns, but uh you know, how are we I I that was our form of communication. It was way before the digital age and now we're in 2026.
▶ 0:51:07There's ways we can communicate from social media to I'm even in a you know, 46 alumni group, but you know, how are pilots communicating with each other? Miss uh Molski, you talked about this siloed information and there's got to be ways that I don't know if there's a some kind of pilot group chat. I don't know what that looks like in the military. I didn't serve when we had those platforms available. But but what does that look like so that the Marines and the Air Force and the Navy are communicating with each other because that's a a great way to to communicate just pilot to pilot, air crew to air crew.
▶ 0:51:41Yes, ma'am. There are both formal and informal ways. So I'll talk about the formal ways that the program communicates with the fleet. Right now it starts like I mentioned at the joint program office where we have pilots who fly these aircraft integrated from all three services in the program. They work together dayto-day and they have connections back out to the fleet and their counterparts out there. We also have monthly class desk safety reviews where the class desk, the engineers in the program office engage industry and engage the fleet in those safety discussions.
▶ 0:52:11We have uh semiannual program safety review boards at a higher level. We just had one uh and we're having another one in March. We have NATO tops conferences which you're probably familiar with from your time where the fleet comes together representatives from all the squadrons to talk about changes to emergency procedures and new procedures to make the aircraft safer. We have u system safety working groups that happen on a regular basis. We're having another one here in March. So there are regular forums both formal and informal to address the fleet concerns.
▶ 0:52:42If I can just add to it because the it was brought up as an important point um in regards to the joint safety forms on the NATOs and this was something we did however note that there were several years when those forums were not held and so one of the things that we recommended was to make sure that those formal um uh conferences would be held on a regular basis.
▶ 0:53:10Um, and then to your other point again, we we did the the services did and the the the service members rely on their informal network. And while they all were very confident about the aircraft, one of the comments that would come up is we're not worried about what we know, we're worried about what we don't know.
▶ 0:53:31And that was something that a number of service members stated that there were things that came out later that their colleagues maybe in the Navy knew that they in the air force did not.
▶ 0:53:43So again, I think it needs to be both an informal but more importantly it has to become a formal networks to make sure that those lessons learned are shared and well known across the services and down through the units. I
▶ 0:53:58I agree and I mean welcome to military aviation. And it's it's an inherent kind of risk you take. You know what you sign up for? Hopefully, but as safe as we can make it as spot. We do an amazing job. If you look at the history of aviation safety, there's nobody that does it better than the military. Last quick question. What is your timeline or are we even thinking about replacement of this aircraft? Is it going to be around for a while or we are we in a place where we just need to make it as as good as we can or we because I come from the again F F-18 world and my M East Coast master jet base. We'd love F-35s, but they're talking about FAXX.
▶ 0:54:28So those guys, the strike fighter guys are always thinking a step ahead or where we where we at with this program?
▶ 0:54:33Uh yes ma'am. We'll be upgrading this uh platform well into the 2050s. Um and we are looking at a midlife service upgrade um to improve the reliability, the safety and readiness of the platform.
▶ 0:54:45Thank you. I yield back.
▶ 0:54:47I thank the gentle lady. I now recognize Mr. Norcross.
▶ 0:54:50Thank you, Chairman. Appreciate that. Um couple questions on the clarity. Marines obviously have the most followed by equally I guess Air Force and Navy. Are there any significant differences in the accident rates not per hour but just service over service that we've Um I would say sir that the uh the types of events that were happening the mishaps the material failures are common across all the platforms
▶ 0:55:21and the rate um differences just due to the number of hours and the and the missions that each one does specifically.
▶ 0:55:28Okay. So so that's my question. Um Miss Mowski, you you mentioned that the service and maintenance issue was not part of the review. Could you explain the difference why we wouldn't talk about maintenance? Almost any accident they look into maintenance records.
▶ 0:55:49Sir, what I was specifically addressing was that issues related to maintenance or oper aircraft were not are not a part of the system safety risk um analysis. So they're not in the same uh defined way of assessing risk.
▶ 0:56:08Um when you have the risk assessment, the idea is that you identify the risk, you analyze it, you respond to it, and you you close it or you find mitigating actions to close it. When the the issues associated with maintenance or with air crew experience, those were things that were commonly brought up.
▶ 0:56:31We have done it at GA have noted issues with that and others but there wasn't there's not a systematic way that we could identify that those risks would be identified analyzed and responded to.
▶ 0:56:46Okay. Thank you. Uh so we've identified they've accepted all five recommendations. It was earlier reported that they're producing I guess the gearbox 12 per month. So my question has to do is how quickly can we fix the problem or the major issue here? So if they produce 12 a month, what's our capacity to install and test per month those parts?
▶ 0:57:16Congressman, those are being delivered to the fleet at that rate and then the fleet installs them as they're needed on the platform. So that we're going on a case-byase basis. It's not a across the board replacement of those gear boxes.
▶ 0:57:31They're being replaced on a on a regular basis across the services.
▶ 0:57:35All right. So the point I'm getting at, do we have the capacity in our maintenance to replace 12 a month?
▶ 0:57:41We do, Congressman.
▶ 0:57:42Okay. So question was asked earlier how many months years will it take at the rate you're going if assuming there's no ramp up to replace all these
▶ 0:57:54for the Navy and the Air Force they'll be complete in the next couple of years close to 400. Thank you. I yield back. I now recognize uh goodness gracious, you guys wouldn't name so close. Mr.
▶ 0:58:24thank you, Mr. Chairman. General Walsh, what is the do you know the the like the state of mission capability readiness for the for the Marine Corps for the Osprey?
▶ 0:58:43What is the percentage
▶ 0:58:45I do, Congressman?
▶ 0:58:46What is that?
▶ 0:58:47It's uh roughly about 50%.
▶ 0:58:50About 50%
▶ 0:58:50for the in reporting.
▶ 0:58:52Admiral Admiral Dy about for the Navy. Uh, currently the Navyy's at about 40%.
▶ 0:59:00About 40%. I don't claim to be an expert on many things and this is most certainly one of the categories and I'm not an expert in but but as an old soldier myself it seems to me that we have been stubbornly dedicated to this platform and um and perhaps it's wise that we remain stubbornly dedicated but we should calmly assess
▶ 0:59:30where we are regarding just what we can do from a from a mission accomplishment Um to to abide by some of the wisdom that's been shared by an extent go study.
▶ 0:59:52So I ask you general and admiral, will you just clarify for the committee and for America what are reliability control boards as it relates to maintenance and uh both preventative and repair for this platform? How do they work? How do you assess them? Are they shared across the services that use this platform in varying degrees?
▶ 1:00:20would you just speak to reliability control boards because it seems to me it should be the focus of our discussion on how to move forward.
▶ 1:00:31Thank you, Congressman. I just want to start by saying that we do understand where the challenges are in our readiness and we're committed to providing the operational commanders with what they need to fight every day.
▶ 1:00:42Yes, sir. The reliability control board is a process we have inside the program where we take a look with data across all the the components and the drivers in the in the uh in the aircraft. We understand the ones that are degrading readiness the most and we have actionable plans to improve the readiness of those components.
▶ 1:01:01Yes sir. Admiral.
▶ 1:01:04Yeah I I sir I would just double down on that. um on our journey on F-18 uh almost a decade ago to get to 341 operational aircraft mission capable aircraft um the RCB was a key element of that to do exactly General Walsh said to understand our degradator so as the airworthiness authority and as Nav Air that manages you know 40 different type model series of aircraft um that is a best practice that we enforce um across all our platforms.
▶ 1:01:34Thank you, Admiral and General, for that Miss Muldovski, do you concur that reliability control board should be a a focus of how our services move forward to embrace the the experience and the knowledge of the maintenance crews that work on these platforms and then maybe they rotate out and and perhaps uh rotation is something that we should look at as well.
▶ 1:02:01But if they had a way to to like have a deep documentation of their experiences learned from maintenance work on the platform, they were able to share that broadly. Would that would that be helpful? Madam,
▶ 1:02:19I think absolutely. And I I believe that in the NAVAIR comprehensive report they noted that one of the key challenges with the Osprey was that the maintenance systems there were disperate maintenance systems between each of the services. So knowledge was not shared lessons learned not shared across the different services and how they would maintain the operation.
▶ 1:02:42So best practices in in closing, let me just say, gentlemen, I deeply respect and support your mission and and we are every bit as committed to making this platform work um as you are. Back as long ago as the 90s in the civilian realm, certified mechanics working on vehicles. they had a old school computer access.
▶ 1:03:11If they had a an issue with a vehicle and they found a fix, they could go into that system and load that fix, load the symptom that they were that they were addressing and and they would make notes on how they how they fixed it. And a mechanic, a certified mechanic across the country without a bunch of bureaucracy in between could look at that in real time. he could see service.
▶ 1:03:38So, I'm not suggesting that you break down your chain of command and control uh to that level, but I am saying that that that we need the experience of these maintenance mechanics that have been on this platform for a while. We need that accessible across the across the board so we can increase these readiness numbers. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the indulgence. I yield.
▶ 1:04:03Thank you. Uh Mr. Memer, you're
▶ 1:04:07Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Admiral Dy, correcting the core issues of safety, uh, mishaps is critical because of the projected future service life. Can you talk about why this aircraft is uniquely suited for its assigned missions and why guaranteed safety is critical?
▶ 1:04:26Uh, well, yes sir. As the airworthiness authority, um, safety is the prime directive. uh from my perspective uh it is my responsibility to ensure uh that the aircraft is safe to operate across all the services uh with the different missions that it does. Um and then in terms of the unique capability that it brings to the war fighter in terms of speed, range um and access uh is
▶ 1:04:51Okay. Uh can you describe how these those capabilities differ from other other aircraft in the fleet and how these capabilities change how we can operate in theater? Yes sir. I would just say it's it's uh related to its V tall capability. It's its ability to uh take off and land vertically, operate from ships from shore um and have the speed and range of kind of an airplane but have the capabilities of a
▶ 1:05:15Okay. Thank you. Um General Walsh, the department has previously worked with ind industry to identify and address issues that have arisen. Can you talk about how the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps work jointly with industry to make sure safety component issues are identified early and addressed as quickly as possible?
▶ 1:05:33Yes, Congressman, that partnership between the program office and industry is indispensable. That that is how we generate safety and readiness and we work closely every day with our industry partners to make sure that they are producing qualified safe components for our aircraft. Okay.
▶ 1:05:48Thank you. Admiral Dherty and General Walsh, can you offer data on the V22 improvement plan and how it is able to address some of the safety issues described in the GAO report. The V22 improvement program focuses on on providing capabilities and components that are improve the safety and the reliability of those components. Some of the ones that we've mentioned today are prop rotor gearbox improvements with the new more robust steel.
▶ 1:06:15The input coil assembly redesign to reduce the incident of hard clutch engagements. The Osprey drive system safety and health information are called Odyssey. They'll provide the maintainers and air crew better information about the health of their gearboxes.
▶ 1:06:30The cell improvements which was mentioned earlier that will improve the the uh V22 cockpit technology replacement which will address obsolescence particularly in the avionics and electronics and then finally a V22 aircraft modernization plan called revamp which will make sure that we have the right capabilities out there into the 2050s.
▶ 1:06:50Okay, thank you. How much funding is needed to complete these upgrades? Do you have an estimate on that?
▶ 1:06:56The proper gearbox, input coil assembly, uh opraay drive system safety and health information are all fully funded. The sale improvement is funded for the Air Force and both the Navy and the Marine Corps have applied funding to those and then we are still studying the costs for Vector and the revamp. So those will be in future budgets. Thank you.
▶ 1:07:16Uh Miss Maldowski, as the Army moves forward with an accelerated timeline for testing and production of the FLA, what lessons can be learned from the V22 development and production to produce a safe, suitable, effective platform for our war fighters? As I mentioned before, I think the Osprey provides good lessons as as the department considers and the department of army considers its new platform.
▶ 1:07:41Uh specifically, as I noted before, um it it's important for the program to consider using GAO's leading practices for developing weapon systems. A number of recommendations associated with it.
▶ 1:07:57I talked about two and that is um in the requirements development phase is to bring in the users the operators to help shape the sustainment of that platform because as we saw you really need to build that into the design early to make sure that um down the road it's going to be a maintainable system. So I think that is one of the ways that uh that the army can consider and pre some of what we've seen on on V22.
▶ 1:08:25Okay. Thank you. Thank you for all our questions and I yield back.
▶ 1:08:29Thank you. And uh that uh completes our first round of questions. Uh Mr. Garandi has asked to ask another question or two. So uh you are
▶ 1:08:44Make this very quick. Uh several suggestions have come up about things that need to be done. Uh this committee will be writing a new National Defense Authorization Act. It's been said that perhaps or not perhaps but that we should include in that the Osprey issues and I would like the three of you to provide to this committee specific questions about what you need in the law to fully address
▶ 1:09:14the Osprey issues that have been raised uh by your own review and also by the GAO. I'm not going to ask for it here in deference to time, but I would appreciate it if you can get back to us no later than the end of this month with very specific suggestions about what you need to avoid the u 10 year or 9year time frame for the full upgrades. Is it money? Is it authority? Please get back to us by the end of the month. Thank you very much. I yield
▶ 1:09:45Thank you. You can tell Mr. Garand and I have been doing this for a while together. uh and I I share his on so many things. I was going to say to you if there's anything is would anybody like to have a closing comment for something you would have liked us to ask you but we didn't and if if there you know it's it's it's your it's your 60 seconds.
▶ 1:10:13You don't have to say, but if you but if there's something you wanted to tell us that that we didn't ask, it's your shot.
▶ 1:10:20Uh sir, I just was going to say uh thanks for the support of the committee. Um and and thanks for that uh offer to provide our recommendations for things that we could put uh in the NDAA going forward. Thank you. Well, the under um Chairman Rogers and and Ranking Member Smith's leadership, our committee is is pretty darn tight uh when it comes to doing a good NDAA every year and that's a credit to leadership across the board.
▶ 1:10:48So, uh never miss an opportunity to lead and do the right thing. With that, this hearing is adjourned.