Free Republic

November, President Barack Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform released a stunning report detailing areas where commission members say they found $200 billion of proposed cuts in the federal government—and although the report was released on the Marine Corps’ 235th birthday (Nov. 10), the USMC took a beating. The commission, whose full report was to be released Dec. 1, called for cancellation of the troubled V-22 Osprey program, capping it at 288 aircraft, while substituting MH-60 helicopters to meet some of the Osprey’s planned missions. The commission also called for cancellation of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) and...

Panel calls for military spending freeze at 2011 levels In the U.S., the national budget is a huge topic of debate. Many in Washington see major savings to be had by cutting high profile projects from various branches of the military. One panel of lawmakers has proposed some very significant cutbacks that would save trillions of dollars, but the cuts would spell the end for some very important and expensive military programs.

Inside The Pentagon is out with a report this morning about a design flaw in the V-22 Osprey aircraft that has been known about since 2006, caused a serious mishap in March 2009 and still has not been fixed on 40 percent of the Marine and Air Force Ospreys in service. The report is based on a long delayed Air Force mishap report of the mishap at Kirtland Air Force base after a CV-22 made an emergency landing after losing an engine on takeoff. ITP says the Air Force report "blames the accident on a design problem associated with the...

t's now official. The new generation of high-tech hovering aircraft - namely the famous V-22 "Osprey" tiltrotor and the upcoming F-35B supersonic stealth jump-jet - have an unforeseen flaw. Their exhaust downwash is so hot as to melt the flight decks of US warships, leading Pentagon boffins to look into refrigerated landing pads.g Stories of buckled flight decks caused by Osprey exhaust have been circulating for a while, but confirmation that the issue is seen as serious comes with the issue of a military request for proposals yesterday for "thermal management systems (TMS) for aircraft landing decks". The proposal makes...

Five years ago, in days after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, I wrote an op-ed for the Boston Globe–a piece that, with the Haiti disaster, remains a relevant cautionary tale today: The tsunami response, being hailed as one of the biggest U.S. military disaster relief missions in history, has been less effective than portrayed. (snip) With the Haiti earthquake, we’ll discover that a lot has changed in the space of five years. Today, in the aftermath of this earthquake, the initial response will be enormous. Unlike the Indonesian Tsunami, our initial aid may end up becoming a long-term commitment–lest we wish...

During Operation Cobra’s Anger in early December 2009 — in which 1,000 U.S. Marines and a handful of Afghan soldiers — stormed the Now Zad valley in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, the Corps hit a major milestone. It was the first time the controversial tiltrotar V-22 Osprey was used in a combat situation. The operation was conducted in keeping with coalition chief Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s counterinsurgency guidance, in which major population centers must be cleared of Taliban influence, with coalition soldiers moving in to small outposts in neighborhoods, much like the “Surge” in Iraq in 2007-2008. The assault kicked off...

CV-22s complete first operational deployment by 1st Lt. Lauren Johnson 1st SOW Public Affairs 12/2/2008 - HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The final two CV-22s broke across the Florida horizon just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. And after a 5,300 nautical mile flight across the Atlantic ocean, they had surely worked up an appetite. The aircraft, from the 8th Special Operations Squadron, arrived home Nov. 26 on the heels of two other CV-22s, all of which had spent the last month in Bamako, Mali supporting Exercise FLINTLOCK-09, a regularly scheduled training exercise in the Trans-Saharan region designed to build relationships and...

AL ASAD — As the second MV-22 Osprey squadron to deploy to a combat zone, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, continues to build on the Osprey’s strengths and versatility in Iraq. The MV-22 Osprey is the Marine Corps’ newest airframe and is poised to shoulder the responsibility as the Marine Corps’ sole medium lift helicopter platform in the future. “When you have an aircraft with the lift capacity that the MV-22 has, and that can move troops or cargo in a safe and timely manner to your entire area of responsibility, your stock value tends to...

Osprey documentary to air Web-posted Sunday, April 6, 2008 The Military Channel will premiere a one-hour documentary on the V-22 Osprey at 9 p.m. today. Much of the film is about VMM-263, the first operational Osprey combat squadron, but it also presents an overview of the Osprey program from its inception. The V-22 is produced under an industry partnership between Bell Helicopter and Boeing. Final assembly is completed in Amarillo. - Globe-News staff

The Department of Defense has awarded Bell Helicopter and partner The Boeing Co. a five-year, $10.4 billion contract to make 167 V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. The contract includes 26 CV-22 aircraft for the Air Force Special Operations Command and 141 MV-22 aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps. The contract includes an option for additional aircraft. The fuselage for the V-22 is built by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems in Philadelphia. Bell builds components for the aircraft in Fort Worth and completes final assembly at its Military Aircraft Assembly Center in Amarillo. The V-22 is a tiltrotor aircraft with proprotors and engines installed...

WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey might be getting more firepower. The aircraft, which is currently making its combat-zone debut in Iraq, has the ability to hover like a helicopter and fly like a fixed-wing aircraft. It is meant to replace CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, the Corps’ aging workhorse. Ospreys come equipped with a gun at the ramp in the rear of the aircraft, but they might also get a gun with a 360-degree field of fire, said Marine Lt. Gen. John G. Castellaw. “One of the options would be to install within what we call the ‘hell-hole’ —...

"The quantum leap in technology that this aircraft will bring to the fight has been a road marked by some setbacks, lots of sacrifices and the success of these Marines standing before you today," Conway said during the deployment announcement in April. The MV-22 Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft that flies like an airplane but can take off and land like a helicopter. Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, deputy commandant for aviation, told reporters in April the aircraft is twice as fast and can go three times as far as the CH-46, which the Osprey is scheduled to replace. The primary...

Mark Dodd | August 22, 2007 ADF may be first to buy 'tilt' chopper AUSTRALIAN special forces could be the first international customers for the revolutionary tilt rotor Osprey - a US-designed half-helicopter and half-plane. In its first operational deployment, 10 of the twin-engined V-22 Osprey will be sent to Iraq as troop and cargo carriers serving the US Marine Corp. Manufacturer Boeing claims a clean operational report card is likely to be followed by US government export approval and the Australian Defence Force is being eyed as a potential customer. The ADF today confirmed it is looking at buying...

After more than 20 years in development at a cost of billions of dollars, the long-troubled V-22 Osprey will head to Iraq in September for its first combat missions, the Marine Corps said yesterday. The tilt-rotor Osprey, a helicopter-airplane hybrid, has survived attempts by the Pentagon leadership to cancel it, criticism of its rising cost and unique design, and three fatal accidents since 1992. The aircraft, made by Bell Helicopter and Boeing, can take off, land and hover like a helicopter, then turn its rotors to fly straight ahead like a conventional plane. It will operate out of al-Asad air...

The V-22 Osprey is going to Iraq in September, the U.S. Marine Corps said Friday, announcing a historic first deployment for the new tilt-rotor aircraft. But the Osprey has struggled to reach this milestone. A pair of deadly crashes kept the aircraft grounded for two years during its development. More recently, the program has struggled with manufacturing difficulties and technical glitches. These snags notwithstanding, the Osprey will soon head "to the sound of the guns," as the Marines' top aviation officer Lt. Gen. John Castellaw recently said. Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 will deploy to Iraq for seven months, taking...

Indian navy set to issue maritime reconnaissance aircraft shortlist within days By Siva Govindasamy New Delhi to step up contest for new reconnaissance platforms, while interest in V-22 Osprey emerges The Indian navy is poised to announce the shortlist for its maritime reconnaissance aircraft contest "any day now", says Boeing, which is offering a P-8I variant of its 737-based P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft now in development for the US Navy. Other types in contention for the eight-aircraft programme include a special mission version of the Airbus A319/A320 from EADS, a package based on Dassault's Falcon 900 business jet also backed...

Pilots thrilled by CV-22 capabilities by Staff Sgt. Jeremy Larlee Air Force Print News 10/6/2006 - KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFPN) -- When he talks about his new aircraft, the CV-22 Osprey, the lieutenant colonel's face lights up like a kid opening presents on his birthday. After 10 years of flying the MC-130H Combat Talon II, CV-22 instructor pilot Lt. Col. Darryl Sheets, from the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., said he has enjoyed his time in the aircraft. "When it's in the airplane mode, to me this is like a C-130 sports car," he said....

Osprey puts on show in high country By Nancy Lofholm Denver Post Staff Writer DenverPost.com Gunnison - Tourists come here in summer to hit the trails and fishing holes and soak in the mountain scenery. But for the past month, they have gotten a gee-whiz bonus in the skies over Gunnison. The military and its defense- contractor partners have been testing a new type of aircraft that is part helicopter and part airplane. The part-helicopter, part-airplane V-22 Osprey has drawn crowds on takeoffs for the past month at the Gunnison County Airport, which was chosen as a testing site because...

The MV-22 “Osprey” is a common sight in the skies of Eastern North Carolina, however, tens of thousands of people recently had an opportunity to observe the aircraft for the first time when two “Ospreys” made the “self-deployment” from MCAS New River to the continent of Europe. The flight covered more than 4,00 miles, much over it over the North Atlantic Ocean, in challenging weather conditions.

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C.(Aug. 22, 2006) -- Throughout the past two weeks, Marine Tiltrotor Test and Evaluation Squadron 22 has been testing the use of the M-240 as the primary offensive and defensive weapon of the MV-22 “Osprey,” an aircraft which has had no such capabilities up until now. “Along with the ITV (Internally Transportable Vehicle) testing, VMX-22 has been validating the weapons system that we’re going to send out to the fleet when the ‘Osprey’ goes operational,” said Maj. Raymond M. White, VMX-22 director of safety and standardization. There have been concerns of how and where...