Carrier onboard delivery (COD) is the use of aircraft to ferry personnel, mail, supplies, and high-priority cargo, such as replacement parts, from shore bases to an aircraft carrier at sea. Several types of aircraft, including helicopters, have been used by navies in the COD role. The

Grumman C-2 Greyhound The Grumman C-2 Greyhound is a twin-engine, high-wing cargo aircraft designed to carry supplies, mail, and passengers to and from aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. Its primary mission is carrier onboard delivery (COD). The aircraft p ...

has been the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

's primary COD aircraft since the mid-1960s.

History

Early United States Navy (USN) recognition of need for a cargo plane capable of carrier landings resulted in airframe conversion of Grumman TBM-3 Avenger torpedo bombers to unarmed seven-passenger COD aircraft designated TBM-3R. Replacement of TBM-3Rs began in the late 1950s.

Grumman The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...

built a cargo variant of its twin-piston-engined Grumman S-2 Tracker

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

bomber as the C-1A Trader. (Contrary to popular belief, C-130 Hercules was not tested for COD.) In the late 1960s

began production of a cargo variant of its twin-turboprop E-2 Hawkeye

Airborne Early Warning Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

aircraft known as the C-2A Greyhound. Five Lockheed US-3A Viking aircraft were also used from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. The C-2 has remained the U.S. Navy's primary COD vehicle since that time. Several U.S. Navy "Fleet Logistics Support Squadrons" provided COD services aboard carriers since the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, including VR-5, VR-21, VR-22, VR-23, VR-24, VRC-30, VRC-40, and VRC-50. On 6 October 2012, a MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft from squadron

VMM-165 Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron 165 (VMM-165) is a United States Marine Corps Tilt-rotor squadron consisting of MV-22B Osprey transport aircraft. The squadron, known as the "White Knights", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Californ ...

landed and refueled on board the . This operation was part of an evaluation of the feasibility of the MV-22 as a potential replacement for the current C-2 cargo transport aircraft. Further cargo handling trials took place in 2013 on . In April 2014 Lockheed Martin announced that they would offer refurbished and remanufactured

Lockheed S-3 Viking The Lockheed S-3 Viking is a four-crew, twin-engine turbofan-powered jet aircraft designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Corporation. Because of its characteristic sound, it was nicknamed the "War Hoover" after th ...

s as a replacement for the decades-old Northrop Grumman C-2A Greyhound on-board carrier delivery aircraft. Dubbed the C-3, the aircraft would have a wider fuselage, but would retain the original wings, tail assembly, engines and crew compartment. With an unrefueled range of carrying a load, Lockheed stated that the C-3 would have twice the range of a new C-2, and triple the range of a V-22 Osprey. Unlike other competitors, the C-3 could meet the critical requirement to transport replacement Pratt & Whitney jet engines for the F-35. The requirement for 35 aircraft would be met from the 91 S-3s currently in storage. In 2015, the Navy published a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for using 4 to 12 HV-22s as COD. On 3 February 2016, the future COD version was designated as the CMV-22B.

List of COD aircraft

Several aircraft types have been specifically designed or modified for COD missions: * Bell Boeing CMV-22B Osprey * Fairey Gannet COD.4 * Grumman/General Motors TBM-3R Avenger * Grumman TF-1/C-1A Trader *

* Lockheed US-3A Viking

References

External links

"Carrier Onboard Delivery" By Tommy H. Thomason
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrier Onboard Delivery Military air transport Military logistics Naval aviation

History

List of COD aircraft

See also

References

External links