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GAO, Navy Reports Find V-22 Osprey Safety Has Deteriorated, With Fixes Stretching Into the 2030s

The investigations blame accumulated risks and management failures across the joint program.

A U.S. Marine Osprey is flown over the border, Jan. 31, 2025, near San Diego. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Image
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Normand Basque
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey, carrying first lady Melania Trump, lands before a Toys for Tots charity drive event at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Quantico, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Overview

  • GAO reports 18 serious non-combat accidents in fiscal 2023–2024, with rates 36%–88% higher than each service’s prior eight-year average.
  • Auditors recommend stronger risk identification, oversight, and safety data sharing, and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Belk concurred with all recommendations.
  • NAVAIR concludes the platform’s cumulative risk has grown since fielding and says the Joint Program Office has not promptly implemented fixes, with uneven maintenance and 81% of ground accidents attributed to human error.
  • The Navy report identifies two transmission problems tied to deadly crashes in 2022 and 2023, including a brittle-gear manufacturing defect first seen in 2006 that the program office did not formally accept until March 2024.
  • NAVAIR projects full mechanical remedies into 2033–2034, and the command provided no details on accountability for past failures.