September Deployment Will Mark Tiltrotor's First Combat Mission

After years of testing marred by a number of incidents, including a pair of fatal accidents, the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport aircraft will head for its first combat deployment in September, the US Marine Corps said Friday.

CBS Marketwatch reports the officers and equipment of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 will deploy to Iraq for seven months.
 
The Osprey has had a troubled development record -- including the February grounding of the fleet due to a software problem. Four fatal accidents have occurred in the tiltrotor's development, claiming the lives of 26 military personnel and four civilians. The military grounded the program for nearly two years following a December 2000 crash in Arizona.

As Aero-News reported in January 2007, a report by Washington-based think tank, the Center for Defense Information (CDI), recommended the military scrap the entire Osprey program, due to what it termed "operational, aerodynamic and survivability challenges that will prove insurmountable -- and lethal -- in combat."

Representatives with Bell Helicopter and Boeing -- which partnered to manufacture the Osprey -- reply the aircraft, though beset by difficulties early on, has since proven itself worthy, and safe. In March, the entire Osprey fleet surpassed 25,000 flight hours; The Marines announced the probable summer deployment of the Osprey earlier this month.

The Marines acknowledge issues likely remain for the Osprey, as situations will arise in the combat environment not seen throughout the aircraft's 20-year development and earlier test deployments. But the Corps stands firm in its decision.

"The decision to send this aircraft to combat in Iraq underscores our confidence in it," the Marines announced Friday. "The MV-22 can fly almost three times as fast, five times as far, and much higher than the aircraft it replaces. This gives commanders many more options, and offers improved survivability to the Marines it will transport."

The time has now come for the Osprey to prove itself worthy of those words... as it heads "to the sound of the guns," in the words of the Marines' top aviation officer, Lt. Gen. John Castellaw.

FMI: www.marines.mil