thedrifter
10-16-05, 05:59 AM
Osprey places Marines at risk
By: J. STRYKER MEYER - Staff Writer
Across the desert in Iraq and the hills of Afghanistan the terrorists of al-Qaida and the Taliban must have applauded the Pentagon's recent green light to start building 400 of the controversial tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey hybrids at a cost of more than $100 million per aircraft.
This aircraft, which the corrupted military-industrial-congressional complex has heralded for decades, has no defensive weaponry whatsoever, unlike the old Vietnam-era helicopters that had varying forms of defensive weapons on them.
James Darcy, the Pentagon's MV-22 spokesman, said that all Ospreys deployed to future overseas assignments beginning in 2007 will have a single M-240, 7.62-millimeter machine gun bolted onto the aircraft's rear ramp as a defensive weapon. In addition, he said Marine Corps and aircraft research and development staff are exploring feasible "all-quadrant" weapons systems for the Osprey.
Well, that's a little bit of good news for the good guys.
However, with a single machine gun mounted on the rear of the Osprey, its field of fire will be severely limited.
Giving Marine planners the benefit of the doubt, at best, from the ramp the gunner will be able to fire in an 180-degree radius, with the main field of fire to the rear of the aircraft. Due to the unique design of the nacelles on each wing of the aircraft, gunners will not be able to fire forward or to the front sides of the MV-22, which leaves it vulnerable to enemy gunners.
A few weeks ago the Pentagon gave Boeing Co. and Textron Inc.'s Bell Helicopter division the green light to start building the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which takes off and lands vertically in a helicopter mode, with its propellers above the aircraft. Once the aircraft gets airborne, the two engines rotate forward, turning 90 degrees and locking into a conventional airplane mode, where it can reach higher speeds than any conventional helicopter.
Marine leaders, desperate for a transport helicopter to replace its existing Vietnam-era fleet, have hailed the hybrid as an aircraft that will revolutionize the way Marines fight wars ---- allowing them to "jump" or "leap" deeper and faster into enemy territory.
Camp Pendleton's highest-ranking general, I Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. John Sattler, said, "I'd love to have it ... I'd like to have it right now."
I've been a major critic of the Osprey since the 1999 Marana crash that killed 18 Marines. Darcy said that since that crash, engineers and technicians have ironed out most bugs in the hybrid aircraft.
However, as an old infantryman, I still get hinky riding into a landing zone where I can't see outside the aircraft and I can't return fire at hostile forces trying to kill me ---- which is how I felt the last time I rode in the Osprey in 2000. Several Marine ground-pounders echoed my skepticism.
In Vietnam, U.S. military personnel inside of choppers could fire at enemy troops while flying into a landing zone or while leaving a hostile area, something U.S. combat troops cannot do in the Osprey.
Contact staff writer J. Stryker Meyer (760) 901-4089 or jmeyer@nctimes.com.
Ellie
By: J. STRYKER MEYER - Staff Writer
Across the desert in Iraq and the hills of Afghanistan the terrorists of al-Qaida and the Taliban must have applauded the Pentagon's recent green light to start building 400 of the controversial tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey hybrids at a cost of more than $100 million per aircraft.
This aircraft, which the corrupted military-industrial-congressional complex has heralded for decades, has no defensive weaponry whatsoever, unlike the old Vietnam-era helicopters that had varying forms of defensive weapons on them.
James Darcy, the Pentagon's MV-22 spokesman, said that all Ospreys deployed to future overseas assignments beginning in 2007 will have a single M-240, 7.62-millimeter machine gun bolted onto the aircraft's rear ramp as a defensive weapon. In addition, he said Marine Corps and aircraft research and development staff are exploring feasible "all-quadrant" weapons systems for the Osprey.
Well, that's a little bit of good news for the good guys.
However, with a single machine gun mounted on the rear of the Osprey, its field of fire will be severely limited.
Giving Marine planners the benefit of the doubt, at best, from the ramp the gunner will be able to fire in an 180-degree radius, with the main field of fire to the rear of the aircraft. Due to the unique design of the nacelles on each wing of the aircraft, gunners will not be able to fire forward or to the front sides of the MV-22, which leaves it vulnerable to enemy gunners.
A few weeks ago the Pentagon gave Boeing Co. and Textron Inc.'s Bell Helicopter division the green light to start building the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which takes off and lands vertically in a helicopter mode, with its propellers above the aircraft. Once the aircraft gets airborne, the two engines rotate forward, turning 90 degrees and locking into a conventional airplane mode, where it can reach higher speeds than any conventional helicopter.
Marine leaders, desperate for a transport helicopter to replace its existing Vietnam-era fleet, have hailed the hybrid as an aircraft that will revolutionize the way Marines fight wars ---- allowing them to "jump" or "leap" deeper and faster into enemy territory.
Camp Pendleton's highest-ranking general, I Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. John Sattler, said, "I'd love to have it ... I'd like to have it right now."
I've been a major critic of the Osprey since the 1999 Marana crash that killed 18 Marines. Darcy said that since that crash, engineers and technicians have ironed out most bugs in the hybrid aircraft.
However, as an old infantryman, I still get hinky riding into a landing zone where I can't see outside the aircraft and I can't return fire at hostile forces trying to kill me ---- which is how I felt the last time I rode in the Osprey in 2000. Several Marine ground-pounders echoed my skepticism.
In Vietnam, U.S. military personnel inside of choppers could fire at enemy troops while flying into a landing zone or while leaving a hostile area, something U.S. combat troops cannot do in the Osprey.
Contact staff writer J. Stryker Meyer (760) 901-4089 or jmeyer@nctimes.com.
Ellie