My close friend and former Marine Corps Times colleague Gordon Lubold had the opportunity to travel to Iraq with Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway over Thanksgiving last week. He now works for the Christian Science Monitor and had a remarkable trip — getting a few great scoops.
But he was also the first reporter to have filed a dispatch from the first operational MV-22 Osprey squadron, VMM-263.
It’s a short piece, but we’ll keep our eyes out for more coverage as the Corps begins to chip away at its self-imposed media blackout.
Washington and Bahgdad — The US Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey, the tilt rotor plane that flies like both a helicopter and a plane, is expected to face one of its biggest tests ever this month, flying combat missions for the first time a major milestone in the Osprey’s long history of ups and downs.
After years of investment, controversy, and tragedy, the Osprey finally debuted this fall in Iraq, a low-key deployment of 10 planes that marks the beginning of the Corps’ gradual replacement of aging Vietnam-era helicopters.
Commanders have limited the plane’s operations to simpler logistical roles. But now it is set to fly combat missions in Anbar Province, where marines are deployed, that will test the plane’s ability to maneuver in more sophisticated and dangerous combat missions. The awkward-looking hybrid has two large propellers mounted on nacelles that swing up and down to allow it to take off and land like a helicopter and to fly like a plane. The Osprey’s deployment to Iraq has already shown that some components of the complex plane wear-out faster than others. But generally, it’s so far, so good, says the Corps’ top officer.
“It’s a learning experience, and that’s why we deployed it here, and part of it was to be able to see just how it performs in combat,” says Commandant Gen. James Conway, during a recent trip to Iraq to see the Osprey. General Conway says there is still much to learn, but that he likes what he sees. “What I saw …is that it is going very well.”
The Corps has staked much on the future of the Osprey, which has taken decades to develop and is blamed for the deaths of 23 marines in two separate accidents in 2000. Despite the high-profile nature of the plane, Corps officials have played down its arrival in Iraq this fall.
That may change as marines prepare to employ it in a series of missions called “Aeroscout,” in which they use ground and air assets to swarm suspected insurgent and terrorist targets, says Marine Lt. Gen. George Trautman, who heads the Corps’ aviation division. General Trautman says the Osprey, which flies faster and farther than the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter it replaces, will allow Corps commanders to conduct more combat missions than they could before.
Trautman conceded that the combat role for the Osprey would be somewhat limited, as much of the insurgency has left the once-dangerous province. Currently, the Osprey is used for “assault support,” says one official in Iraq.
But early on in its deployment that began in October, one plane had to make an emergency landing in Jordan and daily reports showed that its “readiness rates” had slipped to as low as 40 percent on one day 50 percent on two other days. Those lower rates were largely driven by a dearth of replacement parts when Corps officials saw how some components wore out faster in the desert climes of Iraq, where the sand is finer than almost anywhere in the US. Now that Marine officials have been able to identify those parts and get sufficient replacements in stock in Iraq, those readiness rates have climbed back up to close to what Corps officials say is a more comfortable 80 percent.
“It’s one thing to use engineering models and forecasting, and it’s another to actually run the airplane in that environment,” says Trautman. “You’re on a learning journey, there is no doubt about that.”
Recent media criticism of the plane included the concern that it has no side– or front-mounted weapons systems, leaving it vulnerable to attack. But Trautman says the Corps is looking at a belly-mounted, “all-aspect” gun that would have a 360-degree firing capability.
[Photo from The Christian Science Monitor]
– Christian
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
woot!! first to comment!! anyways glad to see they got over the problems with maintanence. even if the osprey doesnt pan out as a combat transport or some type of assualt varient it at least will be a good replacement for the CH-46. and the osprey hopfuly will be just the begining of a hole new breed of aircraft already remember hearing about a new transport based off the osprey to be a heavy cargo transport that has 4 nacelles instead of two which if what i remember reading will make it safer to. maybe the next V-22 variant and the V-22heavy (stupid name dont realy know what to call it)will be able to fit more armorment and armor
hopefuly this will keep the marines fast and light. The mraps and other things being put on them are makin um to heavy. hell marines are ment to be mobil and hard hitting not to occupy a village send um to aphganistain
After all those years, all those dollars and all those lives, I thought the V-22 was a Black Hole for defense funds. Then a couple of years ago we were on vacation off South Carolina and two of them went down the beach, hauling ass. The term’s overused, but it was, for me, jaw-dropping.
I really hope they’ve worked out the tilt transistion problems. With its speed and delivery payload, we could catch a boatload of bad guys unawares.
i love the early 21st century
You claim to be interested in the Osprey, but somehow you failed to mention the big MV-22 story this week about how all the Block A’s are now ‘flight restricted’ after the third engine fire in a year:
http://springboarder.blogspot.com/2007/12/mv-22-osprey-and-it-was-all-going-so.html
- as Springbored says, it’s funny how the F-15 fleet gets grounded at the slighest sign of trouble, whereas even major incidents like this can’t be allowed to jeopordize the Osprey’s image.
ahh come on – they’re just block a’s . . . . stop living in the past, get with the program
mv-22 is nice!!
i want JSDF to buy it!!
The chin gun, I believe, was supposed to be a key argument for the originial Osprey design. It was deleted due to cost and weight issues during the protracted development process.
“just block A’s” – er, about 75% of the MV-22s are block A’s. And aren’t you just a little disappointed thta after 25 years of development they field a plane that still bursts into flames?
A readiness rate of 80% also sounds pretty woeful for a showpiece unit with all the extras that implies, when helicopter units are reporting 90-99%.
It really is going to take some more deaths before alarm bells start ringing. But will that be enough?
The EAPS or Engine Air Particle Separator is installed on all MV-22′s. They are what caused fires in 2 MV-22′s. The block-B’s have a modification kit installed while the block-A’s do not. Block-B’s are currently in Iraq.
@ Mike
Yes, you are stating the exact same thing from my post. The interim fix for block A aircraft is to operate them WITHOUT the EAPS. This is the flight restriction they have been placed under; no dusty/sandy conditions.
If there are no block B aircraft outside of Iraq, and no modified block As, then there can be no training flights in relevent desert-like conditions for the current pilot’s undeployed replacements.
For those of you who have been following the DT coverage and in particular the comments, know that I have been a critic of the Osprey for a long time, too many issues, too many dollars. But now that they are in combat, I hope and pray that I have been absolutely WRONG. While I still have a sinking feeling that I have been right, now that it is deployed for combat missions, I can only wish for it to overcome it’s problems and history to become an unqualified success (albiet an expensive one) for our Marines. It will be a happy day indeed if I can buy Ward a pint and he can say “I told you so, dumbazz!”.
Fingers crossed, please prove me wrong boys!
A quick hands up anyone here who has actually seen the two movies being criticized?
Defense tech, stick to defense tech. Yea, that’s right. INFORMATION. You want to be another winger site that sets up ‘liberal’ punching bags? Boring.
Keep on believing that defense issues are only interesting to the right wing.
Congratulations to the Osprey team for getting that bird servicibla, It needs a Vulcan multi-barreled cannon or a chain gun to defend itself and lay down covering fire…..Is there any reason there couldn’t be a verson that used jet engines at the wingtip instead of propellers ? no rotors to foul in trees, and more speed in horizontal mode…
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ahh come on – they’re just block a’s . . . . stop living in the past, get with the program
ahh come on – they’re just block a’s . .
ahh come on – they’re just block a’s . .
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