Marines to deploy tilt-rotor aircraft to Iraq

Marines to deploy tilt-rotor aircraft to Iraq

www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The military's controversial V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft will head to Iraq for its first combat tour later this year, Marine officials announced Friday.

After 18 years and $20 billion in development, the plane will deploy to western Iraq in September to support Marine Corps combat operations for seven months, Marine officials said.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 13-4-2007 by UM_Gazz]

I've heard from unofficial, anonymous source that this aircraft is dangerous, "It's more dangerous to the crew, weapons, and soldiers than the insurgent shoulder fired missiles"

Well, if the "unofficial" source is correct in their assessment of the aircraft, we should find out soon.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

A lot of the danger in this program was when they were first learning to fly it. It's like when the Harrier first started. The Marines put their best pilots in it, and they had a perfect safety record. Then they put less experienced pilots and they had a bunch of crashes. So they thought they could put helicopter pilots in it, and it got worse. It's not like flying a helicopter or an airplane. You have to learn to fly both, and know how to fly both to be able to fly this plane. The last couple of years I don't think it's had a single major accident. Not like the early years when they had several that killed a bunch of people.

Here's a little bit more about the deployment.

The seven-month deployment by some 10 MV-22B assault transports of VMM-263, the first operational Osprey squadron, will come 24 years after the tiltrotor was selected to replace the USMC’s Boeing CH-46 helicopters, which are now almost 40 years old.

The Marines have lost seven CH-46s in combat operations in Iraq, and commanders believe the half-helicopter/half-aeroplane V-22 will offer greater survivability because it can fly faster and higher and has features designed-in to reduce vulnerability.

V-22 deployment