thedrifter
07-16-08, 06:31 AM
Wednesday, Jul 16, 2008
Posted on Wed, Jul. 16, 2008
V-22's success is beyond all doubt, general says
By BOB COX
rcox@star-telegram.com
FARNBOROUGH, England — As far as the Marines are concerned, it’s time for the debates and controversy about the V-22 Osprey to end.
"This program is now normalized," Marine Gen. George Troutman, deputy commandant for aviation, said at a news conference Tuesday at the Farnborough Air Show.
In military speak, he was saying the Marines no longer feel they have to defend their decision three decades ago to replace their helicopters with a novel, unproven concept, a tilt-rotor aircraft that is part-airplane and part-helicopter.
After nine months of military operations in Iraq, with only a few reported close calls due to mechanical failures and no combat losses, the Marines say that the V-22 is an unquestionable success and that all the critics have been proved wrong.
"We’re done talking about the V-22 as if the skeptics, the urban legends, the people that don’t know what they’re talking about are carrying the day," Troutman said at the briefing held by Bell Helicopter and Boeing, which build the V-22.
Troutman said the mere presence of the V-22 in Iraq, because of its speed and range, helped the Marines pacify Anbar province by making it much harder for insurgents to operate.
"This airplane when it arrived collapsed the Al Anbar battle space. It made Texas seem like Rhode Island," Troutman said.
What it means
The 45-minute news conferences at the big biennial international trade show are often little more than pep rallies, some with shock-and-awe videos and elaborate PowerPoint demonstrations. They are aimed largely at a trade media corps full of aviation enthusiasts and the many VIPs and political decision-makers on hand.
It is all part of a sales pitch by aircraft and weapons manufacturers like Bell, Boeing and Lockheed — and their foreign counterparts — to drum up sales from other countries.
Nowhere to be seen
To the surprise of many at Farnborough this year, no V-22 is on display or flying. The V-22 made its only international air show appearance at Farnborough in 2006 when Marines flew two of the aircraft across the Atlantic and got as much unfavorable as favorable attention when one had engine trouble along the way.
Bell and Boeing, with the avid support of the Marines and the U.S. government, are trying to market the V-22 to foreign governments. None have placed orders, but Israel, Great Britain and Japan are among nations mentioned as potential buyers.
Marine leaders have said they were too busy fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to devote the V-22s, tanker aircraft, people and other resources needed for air-show appearances last year in Paris and now in Farnborough.
The V-22 news briefing had no video presentations, although a DVD was handed out to news-media representatives.
But what the briefing lacked in special effects the Marines tried to make up for with overwhelming numbers of troops on the ground.
Looking ahead
Another top Marine, Assistant Commandant Gen. James Amos, said the V-22 will be "the heart and soul of the Marine Corps and our future combat capability."
Amos was one of several high-ranking Marine of- ficers who pushed hard to get the Osprey into full production and into Marines’ hands in 2000 be- fore the program was derailed by two deadly crashes.
The accidents led to lengthy investigations, extensive redesign of key components and years of much more intensive testing before the first combat squadron was deployed to Iraq, in October.
Two Marines from that squadron, which spent six months in Iraq, were on hand to tell war stories.
Lt. Col. Paul Ryan, now commanding officer of the squadron, and Capt. Sara Faibisoff, who at age 27 has flown more than 750 hours in V-22s, related facts, figures and personal experiences with the aircraft and eagerly extolled its virtues.
The Marines still have much to learn about how to fully exploit the capabilities of the V-22, Ryan said.
Ellie
Posted on Wed, Jul. 16, 2008
V-22's success is beyond all doubt, general says
By BOB COX
rcox@star-telegram.com
FARNBOROUGH, England — As far as the Marines are concerned, it’s time for the debates and controversy about the V-22 Osprey to end.
"This program is now normalized," Marine Gen. George Troutman, deputy commandant for aviation, said at a news conference Tuesday at the Farnborough Air Show.
In military speak, he was saying the Marines no longer feel they have to defend their decision three decades ago to replace their helicopters with a novel, unproven concept, a tilt-rotor aircraft that is part-airplane and part-helicopter.
After nine months of military operations in Iraq, with only a few reported close calls due to mechanical failures and no combat losses, the Marines say that the V-22 is an unquestionable success and that all the critics have been proved wrong.
"We’re done talking about the V-22 as if the skeptics, the urban legends, the people that don’t know what they’re talking about are carrying the day," Troutman said at the briefing held by Bell Helicopter and Boeing, which build the V-22.
Troutman said the mere presence of the V-22 in Iraq, because of its speed and range, helped the Marines pacify Anbar province by making it much harder for insurgents to operate.
"This airplane when it arrived collapsed the Al Anbar battle space. It made Texas seem like Rhode Island," Troutman said.
What it means
The 45-minute news conferences at the big biennial international trade show are often little more than pep rallies, some with shock-and-awe videos and elaborate PowerPoint demonstrations. They are aimed largely at a trade media corps full of aviation enthusiasts and the many VIPs and political decision-makers on hand.
It is all part of a sales pitch by aircraft and weapons manufacturers like Bell, Boeing and Lockheed — and their foreign counterparts — to drum up sales from other countries.
Nowhere to be seen
To the surprise of many at Farnborough this year, no V-22 is on display or flying. The V-22 made its only international air show appearance at Farnborough in 2006 when Marines flew two of the aircraft across the Atlantic and got as much unfavorable as favorable attention when one had engine trouble along the way.
Bell and Boeing, with the avid support of the Marines and the U.S. government, are trying to market the V-22 to foreign governments. None have placed orders, but Israel, Great Britain and Japan are among nations mentioned as potential buyers.
Marine leaders have said they were too busy fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to devote the V-22s, tanker aircraft, people and other resources needed for air-show appearances last year in Paris and now in Farnborough.
The V-22 news briefing had no video presentations, although a DVD was handed out to news-media representatives.
But what the briefing lacked in special effects the Marines tried to make up for with overwhelming numbers of troops on the ground.
Looking ahead
Another top Marine, Assistant Commandant Gen. James Amos, said the V-22 will be "the heart and soul of the Marine Corps and our future combat capability."
Amos was one of several high-ranking Marine of- ficers who pushed hard to get the Osprey into full production and into Marines’ hands in 2000 be- fore the program was derailed by two deadly crashes.
The accidents led to lengthy investigations, extensive redesign of key components and years of much more intensive testing before the first combat squadron was deployed to Iraq, in October.
Two Marines from that squadron, which spent six months in Iraq, were on hand to tell war stories.
Lt. Col. Paul Ryan, now commanding officer of the squadron, and Capt. Sara Faibisoff, who at age 27 has flown more than 750 hours in V-22s, related facts, figures and personal experiences with the aircraft and eagerly extolled its virtues.
The Marines still have much to learn about how to fully exploit the capabilities of the V-22, Ryan said.
Ellie