BAE in contract to defend Ospreys from ground fire
After many years of development, and bitter debates over the craft’s safety record, the Marine Corps is ordering the tiltrotor VSTOL Osprey by the dozen; now there is a need to defend them from hostile ground fire, and BAE receives a contract to do so
BAE Systems announced it will develop an interim all-quadrant defensive weapon system for the CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor vertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) aircraft. The contract, awarded by the U.S. Special Operations Command, calls for rapid development, installation, testing, and qualification of a weapon capability that provides defensive fire protection to all quadrants of the aircraft. According to BAE Systems, the belly-mounted system is remotely operated and capable of delivering accurate, sustained fire throughout the CV-22’s flight envelope. The contract is valued at $491,000, with a potential value of $16.3 million, including options.
The weapon system is based on BAE Systems’ Remote Guardian System (RGS), a company-funded effort to develop a common airborne defensive capability. BAE Systems has been investing in the RGS for more than two years and unveiled the system in October 2007 at the Modern Day Marine military exposition in Quantico, Virginia.
