Comments on: Osprey Deployment Update

By: Jones

Jones — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:31:47 +0000

Firing 105mm’s out of an aicraft is nothing very new.
I know that the USAF did it in 1971, and probably did it earlier than that.
Prior to that they fired, depending upon the aircraft, a combination of 40mm, 20mm, and .762 mm.
It was usualy enough to get things going in the better direction.
Spector.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:05:44 +0000

There are more V-22’s in service flying more hours than ever. Where are all the crashes and casualties?

By: Rhyno327

Rhyno327 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:58:34 +0000

For all the f’d up things that went on with this project, how the hell do we get them to theatre? Yeah, they are gonna fly low enough, but theres gotta be part of PAK where they can fly, at nite, and get there. As for the M-777..damn thats a fine piece of arty, and that PGM it fires is like “God’s Hammer”..yeah, bring it on..i do feel we are under resourced in a-stan, have been for YEARS..and good men die..some days i really get f’d up about it. So much frustration…my kid is young, but damn I want him, if he decides, to be backed up as much as possible. Some-, no, MOST of the time ya make do with wat ya got. Improvise, adapt..its gonna be really rough.

By: Sgt Oblat

Sgt Oblat — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:19:40 +0000

I just feel for the marine lying with a sucking chest wound that has to wait an extra few hours for the medivac because the money that could have bought 5 helicopters that could have doubled the coverage and halved he evacuation time, went into the gold bathtub that sits on ground in New River looking oh so cool.

By: Jawaralal B ernstein

Jawaralal B ernstein — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:56:54 +0000

The subject A/C is a proven killer of its occupants. Its acq program was full of gross mismanagement and something other than truth-telling to the Congress and the taxpayers. The Marines have got to shield and baby this turkey, grossly swelling its o&m costs. But I presume, as per usual, the books will be cooked. Further, urgent and political opsec will ensure that the public never sees the limited performance in Afgh, so it can then be mythified. My mouth brims with vomit at the thought of our brave fighting Gyrenes forced to travel in this deathtrap, without even a gun except the POSrigged in its nose recently.

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:18:25 +0000

To Jimmy,
You have every fact wrong about the V-22. The V-22 has a faster speed, higher service ceiling, heavier payload, and longer range than the CH-46 or CH-53, and even as better range, speed, and payload, than the CH-47. I also noticed another thing about the V-22. It can carry an M-777 howitzer. You know, the one that can fire an excaliber round 40km and hit within 10 meters of its target? The same one that can be manned by only 5 guys instead of 9 and weighs almost a ton less than the current 155mm howitzer?
Think about that folks. Why would we want a bird that can carry the M-777 in Afghanistan? Oh, wait, thats right, the Taliban have learned to fear it.
I have also seen what the GAO said about the V-22, 68% were combat ready at any given time. They were declared deployment ready then. I think its time the Thunder Chicken prooved itself.

By: paul

paul — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:18:22 +0000

Man,why ever give info out on a “War Unit?” It’s suicide.…

By: Jeff M

Jeff M — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:17:53 +0000

@Ed
They also said the missile defense program would never work. That’s the one that really kills me. Makes me wonder who “they” really is?
In other news a helicopter has crashed and killed 12 people, and it wasn’t a V-22. Could we pay you to ride in that one CJ?

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:12:57 +0000

I see that Bell-Boeing salesmen “talking points” appear amongst these posts. Those who really know the program want to end production now since the V-22 costs twice a much as comparable helos, but has one-quarter their payload and less range, and are broke down half the time. Far better options are MH-47Fs or CH-53Ks, which are heavyweight class helos that are smaller than the V-22. (empty weight) How to respond?
You tell everyone that the V-22 is here to stay, nothing can be done now, and anyone who points out the lies and fraud involved with this program is demeaning the military and insulting Marines. So shut up!

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:27:04 +0000

To all of you in here, I have a simple way to really annoy Jones, just don’t make comments back at him. He’s doing it specifically to piss people off, thats all. That being said, here are my thoughts on the PAK transit part. There is only one issue with them flying at night, if one goes down. Remember that during their first deployment, one of the birds had to make an emergency landing in Jordan on the way there. I doubt the Pakis want to have this bird do that here. Odds are it would come down in an area that “don’t take kindly” to US forces there.
I think that could be the biggest worry Pakistan has.
As for all the naysayers about the bird, just remember this, the following other weapon systems have been declared faulty and would never work: The M1, The A-10, The F-117, and the B-1. Now look at how good they are/were once people let them into combat. The same will probably be said about the Osprey.
As for them being down with maintenance issues, look at what the AH-64A Apaches had to go through to even work in Operation Desert Storm.
Gates obviously wants the bird there in A-stan for a reason. Give the guy some credit that he might just know a thing or two about what is needed to get the job done.
I still think they are just going to use it as a pick-up truck to move stuff from FOBs to the COPs without having to utilize a convoy. This could be part of the counterinsurgency strategy. Our convoys are big, bulky, and have a lot of intimidation factors with them when rolling down the roads. If by using the Osprey we can reduce the amount of times we need to intimidate the population by running a convoy, then this could play to our advantage.
This system will also keep troops further out of harms way, there by negating many of the roadside bombs, rocket attacks, and ambushes that each convoy might have to face.
Final thought: We got the system, it is going there whether you like it or not. I would rather be hoping for the success of this system than cheerleading about it being a failure when marine lives will be at stake with it.