Chips are down, and so is V-22

As a result, all of the Marines’ MV-22s and Air Force’s CV-22s - less than 60 altogether -- have been grounded until the chips can be replaced.

"Testing found that in extreme cold temperatures, the chip could fail to perform as required in this specific role. Built-in test procedures in the flight control computer that are performed before flight detected the failure," the statement said.

The tilt-rotor aircraft is manufactured jointly by Boeing Co. in Ridley Township and Bell Helicopter in Texas.

The Marines are planning to deploy the V-22 -- most likely to Iraq -- during the second half of this year. Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Fazekas said the latest problem is not expected to push back the deployment date.

The chips in the V-22’s flight control computers must be built to withstand subzero temperatures. But the faulty chip, manufactured by Texas Instruments, was not functioning properly at around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Boeing spokesman Jack Satterfield.

"If it’s malfunctioning just below freezing and it’s supposed to function at well below zero, obviously there’s something wrong," Satterfield said.

Officials at Texas Instruments could not be reached Friday.

Replacing the chips might not take any longer than 10 days, according to Bell spokesman Bob Leder. "It’s not a big deal," he said.

Leder said an alert would be sent out to warn military and commercial operators that use the chip in their aircraft that cold weather could affect its performance.

The failure was detected during a pre-flight engineering check and has not occurred during flight in the Osprey, the Marines said.

News of the grounded fleet, while not tied to the design or production of the V-22, follows recent reports of other problems with the aircraft.

Tests conducted last summer at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico showed that the Air Force version of the V-22 was prone to"frequent part and system failures" and "high false alarm rates in the built-in diagnostic systems," according to a recent Defense Department report.

An aircraft mishap board is also investigating the cause of a December engine compartment fire.

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, a V-22 proponent and member of the House Armed Services subcommittee that oversees the program, said he is not deterred by Friday’s announcement.

"The Marine Corps is correctly going to test all systems where this chip might be, but the belief is that this is just a problem with chips, from one supplier, which does not work properly below a certain temperature," his spokesman said in a statement. "Once the faulty chips have been replaced, the fleet will be up and running again."

I know this bird has had its share of problems, but there is something good to be said about the design, at least of the onboard management systems, that this malfunction was caught before it resulted in a crash. Sure, it should have been caught way earlier, before these chips even left the manufacturer, IMHO.

No machine made by humans is ever going to be perfect, but at least the designed-in redundancy was working and detected a real problem that can be easily fixed.

I have mixed feelings on the Ospry. If they can get it to work reliably, it will be an awesome asset for the Marines, as well as the other services, and plenty of civilian organizations. If not, its going to be a hugely expensive boondoggle. I hope its the former.

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	A computer chip problem has popped up in Boeing's V-22 Osprey.