I'd been discussing the thing with some others, and was wondering what people with some experience with modern military operations thought of the thing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...02/AR2009020202969.html?referrer=emailarticle
The core question is why do they want the thing. Initially I thought it was because the V-22 can out range rotor craft and having a mortar on hand could be much better than waiting around while a fixed wing aircraft heads back to base and than back into the area.
However from the air assault thread it sounds like getting outside of chopper range for an air assault isn't something the forces would do. At that point, given the high cost of the Ospery carrying the thing, it would seem one might do better with some extra supercobras or something along those lines.
Or is there some operational aspect to the thing that makes it worthwhile. Like the V-22s dropping troops off at a some point and leaving them there for an extended period of time. Etc.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...02/AR2009020202969.html?referrer=emailarticle
The core question is why do they want the thing. Initially I thought it was because the V-22 can out range rotor craft and having a mortar on hand could be much better than waiting around while a fixed wing aircraft heads back to base and than back into the area.
However from the air assault thread it sounds like getting outside of chopper range for an air assault isn't something the forces would do. At that point, given the high cost of the Ospery carrying the thing, it would seem one might do better with some extra supercobras or something along those lines.
Or is there some operational aspect to the thing that makes it worthwhile. Like the V-22s dropping troops off at a some point and leaving them there for an extended period of time. Etc.