https://www.military.com/daily-news...eys-aircraft-faces-uncertain-future.htmlsample quote
Plans to fly the aircraft for another few decades mean that the services will have to solve the "hard clutch engagement" problem -- a situation where a failure by the aircraft's complicated system of gearboxes and clutches to balance the power produced by its twin engines causes dramatic and dangerous issues. Thus far, military officials have indicated the problem seems to be tied to flight hours and wear and tear.
snip
The military has not gone into how much money the repairs or new fixes to the gearbox would cost, but Military.com reported on a 2017 incident involving an Air Force Osprey when the failure occurred mid-flight over Arizona and the aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Flagstaff on one engine.
That incident, which damaged both engines and five gearboxes, as well as nearly a dozen other components, took a team of six, working 12-hour days, 45 days to repair the aircraft and cost more than $5 million, according to an incident report reviewed by Military.com.
To date, no crashes or fatalities have been attributed to the problem, although the cause of a deadly crash that claimed the lives of five Marines in June near Glamis, California, is still under investigation.
Last August, the V-22 Joint Program Office announced more than 24 different initiatives the services were undertaking to remedy and identify the hard clutch engagement issues. Those efforts included data mining, laboratory testing and hardware redesign, according to a Department of Defense spokesperson.
end quote
Well, that is just a single “bad apple” with all other gearboxes pretty reliable, right.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ping-home-to-florida-after-breaking-downsample quote
The combining gear links the two main diesel engines on the Freedom class ships to a pair of gas turbines, which can provide additional power for its water jet propulsion system. This combined system is key to the ability of these ships to reach speeds of over 40 knots, which was a core requirement when the ships were under development. On diesel engine power alone, their top speed is only around 10 to 12 knots.
It's not clear how the combining gear failed in this case or when or where exactly the breakdown happened.
snip
This is not the first time a Freedom class LCS's combining gear has failed. In 2015, the USS Milwaukee
suffered a problem with this part of its propulsion system, while making its maiden voyage to Naval Station Mayport in Florida, where Detroit is also homeported.
The next year, USS Fort Worth had experienced a significant breakdown in its combining gear, as well. The Navy subsequently determined that incident to have been the result of a chain of errors by the crew that resulted in the system running for an extended period without critical lubricating oil.
end quote
Most recently the Navy has said they want to “retire early” a few early production Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ships ( LCS)
because they prefer a newly built ship with design improvements
to the cost of completely repairing the old ones.
Perhaps Moparts should send a member with extensive gearbox failure experience to inform the Navy about “Lifetime Drivetrain Warranty” advantages?
Should there be searches for hidden wooden shoes ( Dutch Sabots)
that when dropped into gearboxes, indicate a Saboteur lurks?
