thedrifter
06-19-07, 07:52 AM
PARIS AIRSHOW: USMC Ready to Deploy Osprey to Iraq
“It’s like graduating from college,” said Col MD Mulhern, NAVAIR V-22 Program Manager of the declaration of Initial Operational Capability (IOC), announced Wednesday 13 June, for the USMC’s VMM-263 Squadron.
Speaking at a briefing during the Paris Airshow this morning, Col Mulhern said that the first deployment of VMM-263 will occur in the Fall (the schedule says September) to Al Anbar Province in Iraq to support the Marines already on the ground. Up to 200 personnel with contractor support will deploy into Iraq – whether the unit will self deploy or not has yet to be decided, probably during July.
Col Mulhern said pre-deployment desert testing in Yuma, Arizona, had been focusing on identifying where likely problems during the ‘tour’ will occur: “Everything that sucks air and flies through the air has been looked at. It will be hard on rotor blades and turbines. We’re not confident enough to say we got it right but have tried to do all we can.” He said that the squadron is aimed for an availability level around 82%, although with no length of deployment period fixed at this moment the challenge will be to maintain that relatively high figure over time.
In terms of ensuring that the deployed unit gets priority on spares Col Mulhern pointed out that “while people inside the Beltway [inner Washington DC] don’t usually like each other, once a unit is out in the field the support will be there.” As in all military operations the US Marines are preparing for the unexpected: “The catch is the unknown, something will pop-up that we didn’t know about but we will work with industry to ensure we have quick success (in fixing it).”
In terms of the multi-year procurement plan for around 167 aircraft Col Mulhern said that the USMC and Bell/Boeing were still in discussion over price – “we want below $10 billion, they are looking above.”
When questioned about the threats the aircraft were likely to face in theatre, Col Mulhern confirmed that the Ospreys will have a ramp mounted M240 machine gun and a range of countermeasures but that “we think the aircraft is survivable right now.” Additional armour is not being considered at this time because the training and mission planning has revolved around delivery and extracting Marines, approaching quickly then exiting and getting above the threat envelope as quickly as possible.
- Andrew Drwiega
Ellie
“It’s like graduating from college,” said Col MD Mulhern, NAVAIR V-22 Program Manager of the declaration of Initial Operational Capability (IOC), announced Wednesday 13 June, for the USMC’s VMM-263 Squadron.
Speaking at a briefing during the Paris Airshow this morning, Col Mulhern said that the first deployment of VMM-263 will occur in the Fall (the schedule says September) to Al Anbar Province in Iraq to support the Marines already on the ground. Up to 200 personnel with contractor support will deploy into Iraq – whether the unit will self deploy or not has yet to be decided, probably during July.
Col Mulhern said pre-deployment desert testing in Yuma, Arizona, had been focusing on identifying where likely problems during the ‘tour’ will occur: “Everything that sucks air and flies through the air has been looked at. It will be hard on rotor blades and turbines. We’re not confident enough to say we got it right but have tried to do all we can.” He said that the squadron is aimed for an availability level around 82%, although with no length of deployment period fixed at this moment the challenge will be to maintain that relatively high figure over time.
In terms of ensuring that the deployed unit gets priority on spares Col Mulhern pointed out that “while people inside the Beltway [inner Washington DC] don’t usually like each other, once a unit is out in the field the support will be there.” As in all military operations the US Marines are preparing for the unexpected: “The catch is the unknown, something will pop-up that we didn’t know about but we will work with industry to ensure we have quick success (in fixing it).”
In terms of the multi-year procurement plan for around 167 aircraft Col Mulhern said that the USMC and Bell/Boeing were still in discussion over price – “we want below $10 billion, they are looking above.”
When questioned about the threats the aircraft were likely to face in theatre, Col Mulhern confirmed that the Ospreys will have a ramp mounted M240 machine gun and a range of countermeasures but that “we think the aircraft is survivable right now.” Additional armour is not being considered at this time because the training and mission planning has revolved around delivery and extracting Marines, approaching quickly then exiting and getting above the threat envelope as quickly as possible.
- Andrew Drwiega
Ellie