Osprey Links
Congressman: Stop Building Ospreys
Springboard – Yes, The V-22 Hearing Was A Waste Of Time
V-22 Osprey aircraft underperformed in Iraq-report
“It’s time to put the Osprey out of its misery,” said Chairman Edolphus, a New York Democrat. “To sum up, it has problems in hot weather, it has problems in cold weather, it has problems with sand, it has problems with high altitude and it has restricted maneuverability.
“The list of what the Osprey can’t do is longer than the list of what it can do.”
Availability challenges also impacted the MV-22. In Iraq, the V-22’s mission capability (MC) and full-mission capability (FMC) rates fell significantly below required levels as well as rates achieved by legacy helicopters.6 The V-22 MC minimum requirement is 82 percent, with an objective of 87 percent, compared with actual MC rates for the three squadrons of 68, 57 and 61 percent. This experience is not unique to Iraq deployment, as low MC rates were experienced for all MV-22 squadrons, in and out of Iraq. In comparison, the Iraq-based legacy helicopter MC rates averaged 85 percent or greater during the period of October 2007 to June 2008. Similarly, the program originally had a FMC requirement of 75 percent; but its actual rate of 6 percent in Iraq from October 2007 to April 2008 was significantly short of that, due in large part to faults in the V-22’s Ice Protection System. In areas where icing conditions are more likely to be experienced, such as in Afghanistan, this may threaten mission accomplishment.
Eric,
The juxtaposition of this story and the Pork story which follows is interesting.
My recollection was that the Osprey had quite a pork flavor, that it was embraced more closely by congress than the Corps. The Corps only falling into line when it became obvious that there were no other solutions.
I would not care to fly in one of those contraptions.
Terry, make no mistake, the Marines’ leadership is foursquare behind the Osprey, and has been from the beginning. Now, the junior officers and enlisteds that have to deal directly with this deathtrap may feel differently, but the leadership wants it with a lust that would make Hugh Heffner proud. Ex-Commandant P.X. Kelley once said that he wanted to the Osprey to be his “legacy”. I wonder if he’s since reconsidered that.
I don’t know if it’s a deathtrap, but the aircraft doesn’t sound like a cost-effective platform outside specialized missions where its high speed offers an advantage and it’s worth the cost of acquiring it and operating it. Not a good replacement for the utilitarian CH-46.
I’ve seen from my point of view – R&D of joint chem-bio defense equipment – the Marines have a fanatical sense of committment in any project they are in charge of. Doesn’t matter how stupid the requirement, how impossible the technology, how behind schedule/over cost they are, they will stubbornly shed blood for that project and insist it is necessary for the sake of national defense. They never say die, as much as they ought to cut their losses when a project goes tits up.