A Retired H-60 Pilot’s Personal Take on the Untapped Potential of the CMV-22B

By CAPT Chris “chet” Misner, USN (Ret.)

These are my personal views as I ruminate on the potential of the V-22 now that the Navy has acquired these aircraft as well. As an H-60 guy who flew the F and H models, I remember the saying “jack of all trades - expert at none” being tossed around. Reflecting on that phrase makes me think a lot about where the VRM Community is, is headed, or could be headed. With the deployment of the Fleet Logistics MultiMission Squadron (VRM) 30 Detachment 1 in 2021, and Det 2 this year, the stand-up of the "VRM Community" is well underway. As VRM begins to project power from the sea, the shore establishment has reached a major milestone. VRM-50, the Navy’s first CMV-22B Osprey Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), has celebrated a significant achievement with its “safe-for-flight” certification.

The CMV-22B will leverage decades of operational and combat experience by both the USAF and USMC, including over 600,000 flight hours flown by both services. The Navy variant will be capable of transporting up to 6,000 pounds of cargo and/ or personnel and have a range of over 1,150 nautical miles. The V-22's ability to take off and land vertically like a traditional helicopter, as well as its capability to make short-takeoff-and-landings (STOL), provide the Strike Group Commander with a more versatile and flexible aircraft than the C-2 or the H-60.

The CNO's Navigation Plan and the Tri-Service Maritime Strategy make it clear that the Navy will be involved in a long-term competition for decades to come. If the Naval Services are going to be primarily concerned with fighting and winning a high-end fight in a distributed maritime and expeditionary operating environment, it is likely that the Navy will have to use the CMV for more than just moving "pax, mail, and cargo," as was the traditional Carrier on Board Delivery (COD) mission of the C-2 Greyhound, the aircraft the CMV replaced. As is the case in the fielding of any new weapon system, there always exists a propensity to undertake a "crawl, walk, run" mentality. We have all lived it, and it makes sense. The question for the both CMV Community and the Navy is this: How long before the

CMV hits its stride and starts running? With a much smaller Program of Record, the Navy will need to act quickly and decisively if it decides it wants or needs more CMVs, due to a potential expansion into additional mission sets–ones that will be required in order to fight and win a near peer competition in the future.

Let’s briefly look at a few potential missions.

Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR)

The speed and extended coverage of the CMV, coupled with its mobility and ability to concentrate and respond rapidly, could provide Strike Group and Joint Force Commanders the operational reach needed to quickly seize and maintain the initiative. The CMV is far more efficient than a traditional rotary wing aircraft like the MH-60S, and could provide commanders with a faster recovery of injured aircrews, which would significantly increase personnel survivability rate. The aerial refueling capability also increases flexibility and decreases mission complexity, as it would decrease or potentially eliminate surface ship support requirements. The CMV-22’s faster recovery reduces the likelihood that an adversary can “rescue” downed aircrews before friendly forces arrive. The USAF has clearly demonstrated the V-22 effectiveness in this role.

Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW)

The CMV's speed and endurance for long-range tactical support and dynamic employment capabilities for both land and sea-based operations on short notice could be a potential game-changer for ASuW Warfare Commanders. (I am suspending wardroom fines for overuse of the term “game changer”) The integration of the CMV into the Navy Tactical Grid would significantly increase the number of contacts. With its networks and data links, the CMV-22B expands awareness beyond a conventional helicopter’s capability, creating a more informed common operating picture and improving the Navy, and even the Joint Force, Tactical Grid. The CMV-22 improves economy of force by reducing ship and helicopter support requirements. ASuW missions would be far more successful because of CMV-22 endurance. Advanced capabilities like the Ford Class CVN, JSF, ESB and EPF-14 are sub-optimized without a fast, long-range, rotary wing aircraft capability.

Casualty Evacuation (CASEVAC)

Medical personnel carry a simulated patient during a medical transport drill on the flight deck of USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). The drill was the first-ever MEDEVAC by a Navy CMV-22B Osprey aboard an aircraft carrier.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Aaron T. Smith

The CMV's multi-mission flexibility and ability to be dynamically re-tasked from intra-theater aerial logistics to CASEVAC to long-range patient movement will be unmatched. It has been decades since the Navy has faced the possibility of a ship being seriously damaged or destroyed at sea, and it is something the Navy Staff surely must consider. The ability to provide en-route care of patients and rapid patient movement will save lives. Casualty evacuations without CMV-22Bs will take days, vice hours, to move the injured from a damaged ship to sea or shore-based hospitals. The CMV-22B provides faster and smoother patient travel compared to ship transit. The ability to move a critically injured patient off of the CVN can easily be imagined. The C-2 does not normally operate at night and a "CAT-shot" or an arrested landing of a seriously wounded or injured Sailor or Marine is a non-starter.

This basic introduction to future CMV mission sets is by no means an all inclusive list and will require a significant amount of intellectual, operational, and financial resources. What we do know is this: the CMV-22B is here and here to stay. Strike Group Commanders are only just beginning to understand exactly what the CMV brings to the fight. It is only a matter of time before the Navy, and possibly even Joint Force and Combatant Commanders, realizes exactly what a force multiplier the CMV-22B will be. If the Navy decides that the CMV can do more than just deliver "mail, pax, and cargo," the Navy will need to make sure the CMV Community is not only properly manned, trained, and equipped, but also seamlessly integrated into the Carrier Air Wing. The community, in addition, will need to be provided the training and tactical doctrine required to be successful in any future conflict. If we make them the jack of all trades, let's take this seriously enough to make them experts at all. Because if things get sporty out west, we sure will need these bubbas on the first team.

Sailors aboard Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy’s (T-AH 19) tie down an MV-22B Osprey assigned to Air Test and Evaluation (HX) Squadron 21 on the ship’s flight deck for the first time Apr. 14. Mercy is underway off the coast of Southern California completing Dynamic Interface testing, where the ship’s aviation facilities will be evaluated for compatibility with the V-22 Osprey and MH-60 Seahawk, and establish launch and recovery windows in adverse weather conditions.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jake Greenberg

About the Author

CAPT Misner is a retired H-60 pilot who commanded HS-15 and NAS Kingsville. He is currently a Senior Manager at Bell.