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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 08, 2003

US Navy Suspends Tests of Osprey Helicopter-airplane

The US Navy has grounded tests of V-22 Osprey helicopter-airplane for about two weeks after problems were found with its hydraulic lines, military officials said Friday.


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The US Navy has grounded tests of V-22 Osprey helicopter-airplane for about two weeks after problems were found with its hydraulic lines, military officials said Friday.

The hydraulic lines were found to fail much more quickly than they should have in testing conducted at the factory in Texas where the aircraft was assembled, a spokesman for the Osprey program told local media.

The testing was suspended to allow the Navy to replace the potentially faulty parts, the spokesman said.

The future of the Osprey helicopter-airplane, one of the most controversial aircraft in US military history, will likely be decided this year in a series of unusually rigorous tests, officials said.

The US military is deeply committed to the novel hybrid aircraft, which can take off and land vertically like a helicopter but, when in flight, can tilt forward its two big rotors and fly like a regular airplane.

But the aircraft was grounded in December 2000 after suffering two high-profile crashes earlier that year, which killed 23 Marines. The Pentagon is reportedly considering to cancel the 40-billion-dollar V-22 program for long-term savings.

In an effort to save the program, the Marines, Navy and Air Force are working together to conduct flight tests. Some are designed to ensure that problems such as troubled flight-control software have been fixed.

Other tests, such as flying in formation, are aimed at proving to critics that perceived problems, such as the concern that the planes cannot descend closely together in safety, actually don't exist.

The program is also testing changes that resulted from studies of the crashes, which found, among other things, that parts of the engines were difficult for maintenance crews to reach and that chafing rendered some hydraulic lines dangerously thin.

The program faces a crucial hearing in May before a Pentagon panel that will recommend whether to keep or scrap it. The spokesman for the program said he didn't think the latest testing suspension would hurt the Osprey's chances of being approved for full production.


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