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US pulls some V-22 Ospreys from service with clutch-related issues

7th February 2023 - 16:00 GMT | by Norbert Neumann in London

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Despite maintenance issues, USMC, USN and US Air Force Special Operations Command squadrons will continue training and operations with the V-22 Osprey. (Photo: US DoD)

The US Marine Corps was aware of the technical issue with the V-22 tiltrotor but decided against grounding the aircraft and instructed pilots to deal with the incidents in-flight instead as injuries were not suffered.

The Pentagon is temporarily taking an undisclosed number of Bell V-22 Ospreys out of service across the USMC, the USN and the USAF, a defence official told reporters on 4 February during a briefing.

The problem appears to be the input quill assembly that connects the rotorcraft’s engines to the drive system, which needs replacing after a certain number of flight hours to ensure safe operations.

‘This recommendation is based on a progressive increase in hard clutch engagements and ongoing engineering analysis,’ the official was quoted saying by Breaking Defense.

US DoD, however, does not want to specify the

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