Osprey at War

Can the MV-22 pass muster in Afghanistan?

  • By Ed Darack
  • Air & Space magazine, May 2010
View More Photos »
The Osprey’s role in Afghanistan has been mainly assault support transporting troops and supplies (here Army soldiers unload gear from an MV-22 at a remote combat outpost). The Osprey’s role in Afghanistan has been mainly assault support: transporting troops and supplies (here, Army soldiers unload gear from an MV-22 at a remote combat outpost).

Ed Darack

Photo Gallery (1/8)

A Marine looks on as ground crew “hot fuel” an idling MV-22.

See more photos from the story

Video Gallery

A Ride on the MV-22

With a Marine Osprey unit in Afghanistan.


An Osprey Folds its Wings

An Osprey Folds its Wings

The V-22 Osprey folds up its wings



(Page 4 of 5)

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Once -261’s seven-month tour is complete, another Osprey unit will take its place—and learn from VMM-261’s

experience. In Afghanistan, for instance, Captain Chris Meixell explains, “Many of us fly the initial leg of the spiral approach a little tighter, as the forward operating bases here are a little smaller than those in Iraq, where the spiral approach was first used for the Osprey.”

Maintenance crews are also learning from the new environment. Sergeant Frank Mershon, an avionics technician, typically works 12 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week. (In addition to his primary job, Mershon is an aerial observer, so he often flies to aid a mission.) “Every day is different,” he says. “We get certain gripes [problems or parts needing repair], and once we get our gripes, we go out and troubleshoot them.” Mershon moved into -261 from a CH-46 squadron. He seems to thrive on the challenges posed by southern Afghanistan’s austerity. “The V-22 is definitely more of a challenge, but it definitely makes you think to the next level,” he tells me in the squadron’s small chow hall, filled with cards and letters from squadron members’ families. “The -46 was pretty simple, and the Osprey is brand new…. We’re experiencing maintenance issues that the Osprey has never experienced before.”

Perhaps the most powerful endorsement comes not from the Osprey squadron’s pilots or maintainers, but from one of its passengers. “The grunts are the proving ground for the Marine Corps. What [the Osprey] does for the grunts is what its true capability is,” says Gunnery Sergeant Morris. “Something may look good at the Miramar airshow, but what does it do for the infantry Marines? And that Osprey, in my opinion, closes the gap.... It is a huge push forward for the infantry.”

At the end of my stay with VMM-261, I asked to visit a remote outpost on the shores of Helmand River. I’d be traveling by Osprey, but this time as an anonymous passenger, not a media embed given the privilege of sitting in the cockpit jumpseat. With the temperature dipping below freezing, I stood with a small group of Marines and civilians as four CH-53s and two Ospreys idled on the edge of the runway.

When given the word, we hustled up the Osprey’s rear ramp, and I wrestled my backpacks onto my lap, crammed so tightly into the aircraft that I could hardly find my seatbelt. When we were all strapped in, the pilots taxied the aircraft onto the runway. By the anticipation on their faces, I could tell that most of the passengers had never flown in an Osprey before. The crew chief made sure everyone knew to hold on; once he’d answered the pilot’s question—“Ready to go fast?”—we’d all shift toward the open rear ramp.

As the Osprey began its spiral climb, I felt the same powerful G-forces as everyone else, although I had one advantage: My watch had an altimeter, so I knew when the steep climb would stop.

After making two stops, we reached my destination, a small camp dotted with tents, generators, and a few high antennas for communication. I dragged my gear out of the way of the rotor wash, then watched as the Osprey disappeared, the only visible lights the dim green glow of the pilot’s night-vision goggles.

Camp Bastion, the British headquarters in Helmand province in the south of Afghanistan, is built in the middle of the desert for a reason. There are no villages nearby. An enemy would have to walk through miles of open and flat desert to attack.

It’s a tent city, four miles long and two miles wide, with a field hospital and an airstrip. The runway is short, barely long enough to handle the C-17 cargo aircraft that roar in and out of the base each day. The camp sits adjacent to Camp Leatherneck, headquarters of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

Helicopters crowd Bastion’s airfield: CH-53D Sea Stallions, CH-53E Super Stallions, Bell UH-1Y Venoms, and AH-1W Super Cobras. In the rough terrain and roadless expanses of Afghanistan—and over roads hiding improvised explosive devices—helicopters are often the only practical means of transportation for U.S. Marines. Until last November, that is. That’s when Camp Bastion became home to the tiltrotor MV-22 Osprey and Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (VMM-261), the first Osprey squadron deployed to Afghanistan.

Just four weeks after arriving, the Ospreys went on the offensive. On December 4, 2009, the MV-22s inserted an 80-person reconnaissance force near the town of Now Zad in northern Helmand. Operation Cobra’s Anger was meant to shut down the Taliban’s line of communications, and the routes through which their fighters and weapons move.

The Osprey’s primary role in Cobra’s Anger was insertion: carrying 24 Marines like a bat out of hell to combat. Although it did the job in Now Zad and, more recently, Marja, the MV-22’s main work in Afghanistan so far has been assault support, transporting personnel and supplies of all types—from mail to bullets to diesel-engine parts—to a series of austere combat outposts throughout Helmand. That mission had been the task of the CH-53 helicopter. (The Marine Corps is replacing the venerable CH-46 Sea Knight, which doesn’t do well in Afghanistan’s high elevations, with the MV-22.)

The Osprey is not just a newly fielded aircraft but an entirely new type of aircraft, the first transport in operation that can take off and land vertically like a helicopter, but that offers the speed and range of many fixed-wing aircraft. “When you’re going to a place without a runway, you need a rotorcraft. When you’re going a long way to a place without a runway, you need a tiltrotor,” says Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Bianca, VMM-261’s commanding officer.

This is only the fifth combat deployment for the Osprey (including three tours in Iraq, and a shipboard deployment), a platform that was certified operational just four years prior to its arrival in Afghanistan. The Osprey is enduring more scrutiny than most new aircraft types, because during its development, four Ospreys had high-profile crashes, including one during an operational evaluation in 2000 in which all four crew members and 15 passengers were killed. Major Timothy Miller, -261’s operations officer, says, “For a lot of people, the V-22 is an unknown. There are misconceptions, so you have to do some education up front, and attempt to allay people’s concerns.”

From his tent office on the flightline at Bastion’s airfield, Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Thomas, executive officer of VMM-261, summarizes the Osprey’s advantages. It’s twice as fast as a CH-46 and can carry double the payload. The Osprey can fly above the ground threats posed by the enemy in Afghanistan, including small-arms fire and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles.

For additional protection, the Osprey’s powerful engines allow pilots to launch the aircraft vertically and “corkscrew” to altitude directly above the safety of a base.

The launch is unlike anything else. “It felt like getting shot to the moon,” recalls Gunnery Sergeant Steve Morris, who was on the original reconnaissance team inserted into Now Zad. “Your stomach goes to your ankles; it’s a really heavy feeling.”

This morning I get to feel that sensation for myself, as I ride along on a resupply mission. Once loaded and fueled, two MV-22s taxi onto the main runway. With all diagnostic indicators on the aircraft’s multi-function displays in the OK, and with clearance from the tower, our Osprey lifts into the air from a dead standstill, the other from a slow roll. As the aircraft begins its smooth arc forward, one of the pilots asks the crew chief, “Ready to go fast?”

“Roger.”

Lieutenant Colonel Bianca, one of the program’s longest-serving Osprey pilots (he has 1,600 hours as an MV-22 pilot), says of passengers at this point in their first flight: “Open up the throttles and pull the nose back, and you should see the look of incredulity on their faces.” With one hand on the thrust control lever and another on the control stick (which in helicopter mode works like a cyclic and in airplane mode like a regular airplane control stick), the pilot rotates the two nacelles forward toward airplane mode, and the aircraft’s smooth upward arc is replaced by slight buffeting. With the airspeed indicator parked at 180 knots (the top speeds of the fastest production military helicopters range between 150 and 170 knots), the pilot pulls back on the stick, making a hard-right bank and corkscrewing the Osprey steeply upward. “You can tell when a grunt has flown on the MV-22 before by the way he cinches down the straps and holds on to the shoulder strap that’s towards the front of the aircraft,” says Bianca. “He knows what kind of acceleration is coming.”

And accelerate it does, its powerful engines enabling it to climb at thousands of feet per minute. Once at altitude, the speed indicator pushes up to about 230 knots, although the Osprey can go much faster. After just a few minutes of flying, we corkscrew back down, and with a rattle reminiscent of a loud lawnmower engine, the nacelles transition back into helicopter mode, and the craft drops onto a landing zone at a combat outpost near the Helmand River.

As the aircraft approaches the ground, stacks of large container boxes rise into view, then dust flies up. Another container box, this one just eight feet in front of the nose, emerges from the dust. The Osprey smoothly touches down. Marines crammed in the back file out a side door as a forklift pulls out two “tri-walls”—large tote boxes made of triple-layer paperboard—full of supplies. At many outposts, the Osprey’s powerful engines create a brownout, a blinding plume of dust. On this landing, the air is relatively clear. Pointing to river rocks that Marines have taken from the Helmand and spread over the landing zone, Major Will Grant explains that the improvised surface has created better visibility for landing here.

Once all passengers and their gear have been stowed, the Osprey again rises straight up into the sky.

The Marines of VMM-261 understand their place in V-22 history. The squadron’s experiences, particularly combat deployments, will have far-reaching consequences, and the squadron’s suggestions will help determine not only what hardware gets used, but also potential software upgrades.

“We are going to write a whole new chapter in Osprey employment out here,” says Colonel George Amland, deputy commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. He acknowledges the great strides made by the three MV-22 deployments to Iraq, but notes that the two theaters have many differences. As planners at VMM-261 develop a mission that will take the Osprey from Bastion to the Pakistani border, 850 miles round trip, Amland comments on the Osprey’s benefits.

“The Osprey can collapse the battlespace, and go into areas that are not suitable for landing a [KC]-130J,” he says. And because helicopters are transported to Afghanistan as cargo on a C-5, and the Osprey arrives there under its own power, it can free “a tremendous amount of strategic lift by self-deploying,” says Amland.

The squadron has 10 Ospreys, and missions usually run four to six hours, with some lasting as long as eight. Both aviators and ground crew serve either day or night shifts, but as missions change, flights are often extended, and day pilots often “hot seat” with night pilots, meaning the pilots and crew just swap places while the MV-22 refuels, and the aircraft never shuts down. The squadron is preparing for the coming troop surge, and that, along with the regular day-to-day resupply and delivery operations, keeps the Ospreys running round the clock, 18 or 20 hours straight, requiring maintenance crews to perform basic fixes in between “hops” with the proprotors spinning above them.

The history of the V-22 used to bother Staff Sergeant Brian Freeman. He rejoined the Marine Corps after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, hoping to return to a CH-46 squadron, but his only option was an Osprey unit. “In the beginning, nobody wanted to fly on the Osprey,” Freeman says. The 2000 Osprey crash had killed a friend of his from boot camp. “I went into the program not trusting the aircraft, and with the mentality that the MV-22 was going to have to prove itself to me. And through the years, it did.” (To date, Freeman has logged more than 1,300 hours in the Osprey, one of the highest numbers in the V-22 program.)

Freeman is now convinced that the Osprey is safe. “I like that it tells you what’s wrong with it,” he says. “I like that once you understand how to use the computer system, the multi-function displays, the aircraft will give you information that as a CH-46 guy, you had to know what to smell, what to hear, and really have an intimate knowledge of the aircraft to diagnose. There’s really nothing that I dislike about the Osprey. I used to love flying on the CH-46, until I flew the Osprey. There are lots of things I don’t miss about the CH-46, because the Osprey’s capabilities make that aircraft obsolete.”

Major Larry Nichols came to the squadron after flying single-seat F/A—18C Hornets. “It’s as if a CH-46 and an F-18 had a baby,” he says. “I feel like I’m stealing when I fly the Osprey; it is a fantastic aircraft to fly, taking off like a helicopter and the [high] performance of it in aircraft mode.”

He does think the cockpit design could be improved, and he also has a minor quibble with the software: “The number of keystrokes to get to certain menus is time-consuming and excessive. There are some real tedious steps to manage certain functions that are significantly simpler and more intuitive in a Hornet, specifically regarding communication and navigation.”

Once -261’s seven-month tour is complete, another Osprey unit will take its place—and learn from VMM-261’s

experience. In Afghanistan, for instance, Captain Chris Meixell explains, “Many of us fly the initial leg of the spiral approach a little tighter, as the forward operating bases here are a little smaller than those in Iraq, where the spiral approach was first used for the Osprey.”

Maintenance crews are also learning from the new environment. Sergeant Frank Mershon, an avionics technician, typically works 12 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week. (In addition to his primary job, Mershon is an aerial observer, so he often flies to aid a mission.) “Every day is different,” he says. “We get certain gripes [problems or parts needing repair], and once we get our gripes, we go out and troubleshoot them.” Mershon moved into -261 from a CH-46 squadron. He seems to thrive on the challenges posed by southern Afghanistan’s austerity. “The V-22 is definitely more of a challenge, but it definitely makes you think to the next level,” he tells me in the squadron’s small chow hall, filled with cards and letters from squadron members’ families. “The -46 was pretty simple, and the Osprey is brand new…. We’re experiencing maintenance issues that the Osprey has never experienced before.”

Perhaps the most powerful endorsement comes not from the Osprey squadron’s pilots or maintainers, but from one of its passengers. “The grunts are the proving ground for the Marine Corps. What [the Osprey] does for the grunts is what its true capability is,” says Gunnery Sergeant Morris. “Something may look good at the Miramar airshow, but what does it do for the infantry Marines? And that Osprey, in my opinion, closes the gap.... It is a huge push forward for the infantry.”

At the end of my stay with VMM-261, I asked to visit a remote outpost on the shores of Helmand River. I’d be traveling by Osprey, but this time as an anonymous passenger, not a media embed given the privilege of sitting in the cockpit jumpseat. With the temperature dipping below freezing, I stood with a small group of Marines and civilians as four CH-53s and two Ospreys idled on the edge of the runway.

When given the word, we hustled up the Osprey’s rear ramp, and I wrestled my backpacks onto my lap, crammed so tightly into the aircraft that I could hardly find my seatbelt. When we were all strapped in, the pilots taxied the aircraft onto the runway. By the anticipation on their faces, I could tell that most of the passengers had never flown in an Osprey before. The crew chief made sure everyone knew to hold on; once he’d answered the pilot’s question—“Ready to go fast?”—we’d all shift toward the open rear ramp.

As the Osprey began its spiral climb, I felt the same powerful G-forces as everyone else, although I had one advantage: My watch had an altimeter, so I knew when the steep climb would stop.

After making two stops, we reached my destination, a small camp dotted with tents, generators, and a few high antennas for communication. I dragged my gear out of the way of the rotor wash, then watched as the Osprey disappeared, the only visible lights the dim green glow of the pilot’s night-vision goggles.

Writer and photographer Ed Darack frequently covers U.S. Marine combat operations.


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Comments (28)

What a wounderful story about my old squadron. I really enjoyed it. I was in 261 as a crew chief 1957-58 we flew HUS-1. Semper FI Marines.

Posted by R.L. (Dick ) Murphy on March 17,2010 | 12:08 PM

Ssgt. Brian Freeman, I am proud to say is married to my daughter. As his father in law and an old Marine, I could not be more proud of him and the job he does.

semper fi

Posted by Tom Kelso on March 17,2010 | 02:31 PM

thank you for a very enlightening article about my old squadron 1957-1960. "Go Bulls," and as always, Semper Fi. Jim

Posted by James Lechner on March 17,2010 | 07:02 PM

Thank you so much for your article on the V-22. My husband is SSgt. Freeman, the crew chief you flew with. It is so refreshing to see an article that looks at the present and future state of this great aircraft instead of it's past. If I felt the V-22 was anything short of exceptional I would have had difficulty with my husband's multiple reenlistments as a V-22 crew chief. On the contrary, I am a very proud Marine Corps wife and the V-22 community has my support 100%!

Posted by Elizabeth Freeman on March 17,2010 | 10:28 PM

The speed of the MV 22 is limited to the speed of the armed escort helicopters it may require in actual practice. Given the high disk loading, structural penalties and alarming expense, the MV 22 cannot simultaniously carry payload and defensive and offensive armament.

Using the numbers from this article comparing the speed of the MV22 with other helicopters.

(230-170)/170 = 60/170 = 35% faster?

(230-170)/230 = 60/230 = 26% faster?

Marketing materiel for the MV 22 claims a larger speed advantage and a lower support requirement based on long transit distances, without mentioning that the advantage occurs at altitudes where oxegen or pressurisation is required for all human occupants, which is not available. Therefor the MV 22 requires other support aircraft carry the humans which means its claim to long range self deployment cannot actually occur.

It does not help aviation, the taxpayer and the soldier to treat aviation with a blind religious zeal. Sure we should learn as much as we can, and find other uses for these technolgies that were designed to kill people at great expense. But in this case, the number of low disk loading helicopters which could have been deployed 8 years ago in Afghanistan with the money spent on the MV22 is the "elephant in the room". The primary injuries in Vietnam were from ground booby traps, We always knew that more low disk loading (slower) helicopter transport is the cost effective path to protecting our troops while achieving some kind of practical goal.

Posted by Francis X. Gentile on March 17,2010 | 01:03 AM

I'm truly grateful for your article on on the Osprey and VMM 261. My son is currently with the Raging Bulls in Afghanistan. He is a maintainer and air observer.

We had a chance to get a close-up look at this aircraft when we visited him in New River last October. This bird has the "Wow" factor.

We are proud of all Marines and Servicemen and women.

Godspeed...

Posted by Leo Garganera on March 18,2010 | 10:43 PM

My son is also currently with the Raging Bulls in Afghanistan. He is GSE. Great article highlighting this awesome squadron and the ground-breaking job they are doing.

We are very proud of him and all the sons and daughers in harm's way.

A very proud Marine daughter and mom.

Posted by Robin Comfort on March 19,2010 | 03:09 PM

Our son is a raging Bull VMM261 in Afghanistan as well. He is an Osprey Mechanic. We are very proud of him, and all who are serving. We also visited in New River last Spring. We watched the Ospreys fly up and down the North Carolina coast. God Bless them all!

Posted by Mary Gallagher Senecal on March 19,2010 | 03:10 PM

It is so wonderful to have these newsletters sent home to the families of VMM 261. I have a Son that is currently with the Raging Bulls as an air frame mechanic and when I see these articles, videos and pictures it just fills my heart with so much pride for my Son and all of his Squadron. I am a very proud Marine Mom. Thank you for all you do. Safe return for all! Semper Fi God Bless.

Posted by Laurie La Goy on March 20,2010 | 07:18 AM

There are aircraft like the A-10 and assorted coin types that can fly fast enough to keep up with the MV-22 and also land on short airfields.
Honestly if the MV-22 works out for transport from ship to shore, the next natural step would be to make an armed version of high speed VTOL and get those speed/range advantages into your strike package. Even if it means just bolting guns to an Osprey for starters (mirroring the arming of early helicopters).

Be it by tilt rotor, coaxial with pusher props, or some kind of ducted fan rig... Speed is most definitely sexy.

Posted by Max on March 20,2010 | 08:37 AM

My son is also currently serving with the Raging Bulls in Afghanaistan. Always hungry for information, I loved the story and photos. I hope I can find out how to get my hands on a copy of this issue. We can't wait till they come home! EDITORS' REPLY: The magazine is carried at most big bookstore chains, like Borders. You can also get a copy by sending a check for $4.99, payable to Air & Space magazine, to: Air & Space Magazine, Attn.: Single-Issue Sales, 420 Lexington Ave., Suite 2335, New York, NY 10170. Include a note specifying that you want the Apr./May 2010 issue. Thanks.

Posted by Jeri Cross on March 20,2010 | 09:32 AM

I'm a so proud of my husband's squadron! They have done an amazing job over there! Now it's just time for them to come home! Thank you for enlighting the rest of the world on the amazing job that the Osprey has.!

Posted by Elizabeth on March 20,2010 | 12:06 PM

What an honor to be a proud parent of a crew chief on the Osprey. Our son is now serving with the VMM 261. Your article was a great means of letting people know the service and dedication of these young men. To be a part of this mission and it's ground breaking success is truly history in the making. GO RAGING BULLS!

Posted by Wesley R. Greenert on March 21,2010 | 03:41 PM

As a former Raging Bull (2 tours) and a former Program Manager of the V-22 Program, I must take exception to the comments of F. X. Gentile. Like many others, he apparently has not taken the time to look at facts. Disc loading has nothing to do with the MV-22's performance when compared to other rotorcraft. It's time for the dinosaurs to accept the fact that the VietNam-era "Huey" is not the answer for the 21st century battlefield when it comes to assault support.

The V-22 is here to stay, and it's doing just fine. Get over it.

Posted by Bob Garner on March 22,2010 | 09:16 PM

Our son, Sgt. Timothy Pinney just deployed to Camp Baston on Sunday, March 21. He is an Marine Air Traffic Control and your article provide our family with great insight of where he will be station and the type of aircraft he will be assigned to work with.

Posted by Pamela Pinney on March 23,2010 | 06:03 PM

I am very proud of my son who is a Crew Chief with the Raging Bulls VMM 261. He makes me proud that I am a dad of a U.S. Marine.

Posted by Jeffrey Judd on March 24,2010 | 04:44 AM

I too was in 261 '64-'66 as an Avionics Technician. Enjoyed this article. Thanks...
Ken Willett

Posted by Kenneth Willett on March 24,2010 | 07:58 PM

Read the new update on this disaster at G2mil.


http://www.g2mil.com/V-22disaster.htm

Posted by James Jones on March 29,2010 | 09:56 PM

I flew with the UH-34 helicopters in Viet Nam as a flight surgeon. Boy! do I wish we had the osprey there.

Posted by Kenneth German on April 1,2010 | 08:31 PM

I was a docent at the Air & Space Museum in Washington for 15 years, but now go to the Smithsonian regularly to read articles from the magazine onto casette tapes for the blind. This month I was assigned to read the cover article on the Ospreys. What a privilege! A wonderful article, and the video - amazing.

Posted by Bill Hassler on April 4,2010 | 10:06 AM

I spent many years working flight test when only 4 of these aircraft existed. We worked very hard to deliver an aircraft that delivered what the Marines needed and through the mishaps and heart break I feel we finally gave the Marines a good aircraft. As a former Marine and a CH-46 Crewman and V-22 tech rep I am truly proud of what our boys are doing! God bless them all.

Posted by Eddie "FLO" Flores on April 4,2010 | 11:47 AM

Thank you for allowing the post of the link to G2mil.com for some truthful information about the real status of the V-22 Osprey. Requiring Marines to work 14-16 hours a day to keep 2 out of 10 planes flying in the squadron is ridiculous. Thankfully the Marines have been able to "borrow" a V-47 squadron from the Army to complete the Helmond mission. Hopefully someday soon Congress may stop the deterioration of Marine aviation, and accurate stories will be published about the Osprey.

Posted by Kevin Dort on April 4,2010 | 08:10 PM

I am a former member of 261, I joined the squadron in 1956 not long after it's formation. I'll be at the reunion in August. Great article. Need more with a positive attitude instead of what the media publishes about the military.
Go Marines
Tony Marhan, New jersey

Posted by Tony Marhan on April 7,2010 | 11:48 AM

Although being far from the flying of VMM-261 today, I must say I have a great feeling of blessing to have flown 'back in the late '50s' in HUS and HR2S aircraft. Most HMM 261 folks will remember that as 'developmental' flying, all the way from troop deployment and aircratf carrier flying to the first astronault recovery-at-sea flying. Thanks for the job being done well now, and keeping part of the heritage, camaraderie and pride of HMM and VMM 261. You make us all proud and thankful. And remember, we older pilots flew the HUS and HR2S when it took shear courage to turn on the auto-pilot, and landings aboard aircraft carriers were done manually hands-on day and night. VMM 261, quite a story of honor, tradition and commitment at work. Thanks to all of you.

Posted by Wayne Ward on April 7,2010 | 12:31 PM

There is no doubt the MV-22 is an accomplishment considering the first developmental contract began in 1951 for the XV-3 prototype. Some silver bullet utility may occur for which I will be thankfull. Meanwhile, The anti missile and other defensive countermeasures are the success for vertical flight in Afghanistan that I give thanks for now. If more troops traveled by helicopter, there would be fewer IED deaths and maiming.
Factwise, the MV-22 is not capable of autorotation power off glides to an emergency landing as are all helicopters. Today the State department is buying 110 vintage S-61 amphibious helicopters for use in dry Afghanistan. More Chinooks are on order, Many European design Lakotas have been purchased for stateside use to free up Blackhawks for combat. US financed Soviet Mi-17s are in use by our allies and private contractors. The Nato countries are suffering from a lack of helicopters with hot and high capabilities so are also rebuilding Chinooks and Mi-17s for Afghanistan. And our Marines are looking at Kaman robot cargo helicopters that are derived from the Burro Helicopter that was taken out of the US inventory during the Vietnam War. The turbine Burro was capable of carrying usefull loads to the top of Mt Everest because it had the lowest disk loading of any production helicopter in history. Somebody said "history always repeats it self, it just gets more expensive every time".

Posted by Francis X. Gentile on April 9,2010 | 06:56 AM

F.X.Gentile, did you read the post that B.Garner made or not, it doesnt have disk loading, it's not a conventional helicopter, so conventional helicopter problems dont apply 99.9% of the time. you MUST remember that this is a PLANE too, you might as well say a Harrier was useless during the Falklands war, you might even say, scrap infantry wars, let's all use robots instead (nice idea but won't work) the point is that a MV-22 has proven itself to a heap-load of tests, be this durability, strength, strength at high speed. it has passed all with "flying colours" (excuse the intended pun)

Posted by Arthur on April 24,2010 | 06:01 PM

I liked the article about the Osprey. I worked with military aviators and found the best people to talk to about a craft were the pilots and the crew chief; after all the craft is their baby--no offense to the higher ranking folks who were interviewed.

Dottie

Posted by Dorothy Chumley on May 4,2010 | 09:04 PM

as a retired marine who served in the 261 back in the 1950's i have been proud of the marines that have made the osprey into a fighting machine. i have been lucky to have been able to talk with crews that fly the osprey and they let me go through the osprey and told us how it works and i could not believe that they could remember what all the bells and whistle were for. i will be at the reunion to thank them for what they have done.
sempi fi

Posted by NORMAN LABHART on May 15,2010 | 07:49 AM

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