thedrifter
05-03-08, 06:56 AM
US Marines toast tilt-rotor aircraft's Iraq debut
Reuters, Friday May 2 2008
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - Textron Inc and Boeing Co's MV22 Osprey, the world's first operational half-helicopter half-airplane, performed far better in its Iraq combat debut than had been predicted by critics, the general in charge of Marine Corps aircraft said Friday.
The hybrid aircraft is "just going to become more and more valuable across the board," including for Air Force special operations, said Marine Lt. Gen. George Trautman, deputy commandant for aviation.
The MV-22 takes off like a helicopter but tilts its rotors to fly like a turboprop airplane before landing like a helicopter. It is designed to fly almost three times as fast, five times as far and much higher than the CH-46 Sea Knight it is replacing to ferry forces and their gear into battle.
A total of 30 people were killed in crashes during the aircraft's 25-year development, including 23 Marines in 2000, leading to a grounding for 18 months.
"Most of the critics are just plain wrong in many of the things they say," Trautman told a Pentagon briefing marking the return from Iraq last week of the first Marine Corps operational Osprey squadron.
He said Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 did "every single mission that they were asked to do" during a seven month deployment.
The Marines were just starting to exploit the tilt-rotor aircraft's "new and revolutionary technology," he added, and therefore would seek training opportunities outside the battlefield as well as continuing deployments in Iraq.
Trautman predicted the MV-22 would outperform the CH-46 if higher-ups decided to send it into the more challenging altitudes in Afghanistan.
The Marine Corps is due to receive 30 MV-22 aircraft a year under a $10.4 billion Pentagon contract with Textron's Bell Helicopter unit and Boeing signed in March.
The deal covers production of 167 Ospreys through 2012, more than 140 of them for the Marines. The Corps already has 59 Ospreys in three squadrons, including 12 deployed in Iraq with the second squadron to fly it there, Trautman said.
Despite the Marines' stated satisfaction, Trautman said there were no plans to seek more than 30 Ospreys a year for the next four years, partly because of what he suggested were production constraints.
The MV22 made its combat debut in Iraq in September. Member of the leadoff Squadron 263 described its performance in glowing terms, notably its use in evacuating comrades needing emergency medical attention.
"As an operational aircraft now, it works absolutely wonderfully," said Capt. Sara Faibisoff of Lake Havasu, Arizona, who has 500 hours in the Osprey as a co-pilot. "For me, it's very easy" to fly.
Lt. Col. Paul Rock, the squadron's commander, reported two apparent enemy attempts in Iraq to target the Osprey, involving small arms and a rocket.
"More guns is good," he said when asked about criticism of the lack of an onboard gun that can shoot in all directions, a weight-saving trade-off. The Marines are studying adding a gun that would be mounted in the aircraft's belly, controlled by a gunner and capable of firing in all directions.
Critics have charged that the Marine Corps is restricting the use of the Osprey to what amounts to non-combat situations.
"Basically, they are using it as a truck flying from one relatively safe area to another, as they would use a C-130 cargo aircraft to move soldiers and equipment," said Philip Coyle, the Pentagon's chief weapons tester under former President Bill Clinton.
"But at $10.4 billion (the cost of the latest Pentagon multiyear contract), it makes an awfully expensive truck," he said in an e-mail.
Rock, the squadron commander, said: "Every mission in Iraq is a combat mission." (Reporting by Jim Wolf, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
Ellie
Reuters, Friday May 2 2008
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - Textron Inc and Boeing Co's MV22 Osprey, the world's first operational half-helicopter half-airplane, performed far better in its Iraq combat debut than had been predicted by critics, the general in charge of Marine Corps aircraft said Friday.
The hybrid aircraft is "just going to become more and more valuable across the board," including for Air Force special operations, said Marine Lt. Gen. George Trautman, deputy commandant for aviation.
The MV-22 takes off like a helicopter but tilts its rotors to fly like a turboprop airplane before landing like a helicopter. It is designed to fly almost three times as fast, five times as far and much higher than the CH-46 Sea Knight it is replacing to ferry forces and their gear into battle.
A total of 30 people were killed in crashes during the aircraft's 25-year development, including 23 Marines in 2000, leading to a grounding for 18 months.
"Most of the critics are just plain wrong in many of the things they say," Trautman told a Pentagon briefing marking the return from Iraq last week of the first Marine Corps operational Osprey squadron.
He said Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 did "every single mission that they were asked to do" during a seven month deployment.
The Marines were just starting to exploit the tilt-rotor aircraft's "new and revolutionary technology," he added, and therefore would seek training opportunities outside the battlefield as well as continuing deployments in Iraq.
Trautman predicted the MV-22 would outperform the CH-46 if higher-ups decided to send it into the more challenging altitudes in Afghanistan.
The Marine Corps is due to receive 30 MV-22 aircraft a year under a $10.4 billion Pentagon contract with Textron's Bell Helicopter unit and Boeing signed in March.
The deal covers production of 167 Ospreys through 2012, more than 140 of them for the Marines. The Corps already has 59 Ospreys in three squadrons, including 12 deployed in Iraq with the second squadron to fly it there, Trautman said.
Despite the Marines' stated satisfaction, Trautman said there were no plans to seek more than 30 Ospreys a year for the next four years, partly because of what he suggested were production constraints.
The MV22 made its combat debut in Iraq in September. Member of the leadoff Squadron 263 described its performance in glowing terms, notably its use in evacuating comrades needing emergency medical attention.
"As an operational aircraft now, it works absolutely wonderfully," said Capt. Sara Faibisoff of Lake Havasu, Arizona, who has 500 hours in the Osprey as a co-pilot. "For me, it's very easy" to fly.
Lt. Col. Paul Rock, the squadron's commander, reported two apparent enemy attempts in Iraq to target the Osprey, involving small arms and a rocket.
"More guns is good," he said when asked about criticism of the lack of an onboard gun that can shoot in all directions, a weight-saving trade-off. The Marines are studying adding a gun that would be mounted in the aircraft's belly, controlled by a gunner and capable of firing in all directions.
Critics have charged that the Marine Corps is restricting the use of the Osprey to what amounts to non-combat situations.
"Basically, they are using it as a truck flying from one relatively safe area to another, as they would use a C-130 cargo aircraft to move soldiers and equipment," said Philip Coyle, the Pentagon's chief weapons tester under former President Bill Clinton.
"But at $10.4 billion (the cost of the latest Pentagon multiyear contract), it makes an awfully expensive truck," he said in an e-mail.
Rock, the squadron commander, said: "Every mission in Iraq is a combat mission." (Reporting by Jim Wolf, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
Ellie