Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
September 20, 2007
Pg. 1
By Dave Montgomery, McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - The first combat squadron of tilt-rotor V-22 Ospreys has quietly set off to Iraq, ushering a new and controversial form of aerial technology into 21st-century warfare.
A Marine Corps aviation squadron and 10 Ospreys sailed for Iraq on Monday aboard a small Navy aircraft carrier known as an amphibious assault ship, said a Marine Corps spokesman, Maj. Eric Dent.
The USS Wasp's departure from the New River Marine Corps Air Station near Jacksonville, N.C., was made under tight security with no advance public notice and no ceremonial speeches by Marine Corps officials. "It was just another workday for the squadron," Dent said.
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, nicknamed "The Thunder Chickens," will be based at the Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq for at least seven months of combat operations. The Marine Corps Ospreys, known as MV-22s, will be used to ferry Marines as well as cargo throughout the predominantly Sunni Anbar province.
Dent, citing "operational security," offered limited details about the deployment and said he was not allowed to discuss the timetable of the trip or scheduled arrival in Iraq. The V-22s could conceivably leave the Wasp en route and fly the rest of the way.
The deployment marks a long-sought goal after more than three decades of tilt-rotor research. The aircraft is a joint venture of Bell Helicopter, based in Forth Worth, Texas, and Boeing Co., which assembles the Osprey fuselage at its Ridley plant in Delaware County.
The aircraft flies like an airplane and lands and takes off like a helicopter, reaches speeds and distances well beyond those of traditional helicopters, and is considered far more agile than the aging CH-46 "Sea Knight" helicopters that it is replacing.
But the Osprey's entry into combat will be under scrutiny after years of delays and rising costs, and two fatal crashes in 2000 that nearly led to the program's cancellation.
Critics have long suggested that the aircraft's unusual combination of airplane and helicopter technology made it inherently unstable and vulnerable to ground fire on the approach to battlefield landing zones.
Concern focused on aerodynamic features unique to the Osprey. On some descents, it has a tendency to become enveloped in its rotor downwash - a condition known as vortex ring state - and then crash.
While helicopters are subject to similar difficulties, little was known at the time of an Osprey crash in Arizona in 2000 attributed to vortex ring state, about relatively simple steps pilots can take to reverse the condition. Those tactics are now part of the training for Osprey pilots.
Critics say the tilt-rotor concept is still unproven and could endanger the lives of its crew members in combat. Supporters say it is ideal for combat and will enable Marines to get into hot spots faster and safer.
The decision to deploy the Osprey to Iraq, first announced in April, virtually ensures that Congress will continue to fund production of the aircraft.
Boeing spokesman Jack Satterfield said 1,650 workers are involved in the Osprey at the Ridley plant.
Overall, the military plans to purchase 458 Ospreys, the bulk of them for the Marines.
Bell-Boeing spokesman Bob Leder, based in Amarillo, Texas, said workers were not aware that their handiwork was on its way to Iraq until he posted a copy of a Marine Corps Times article about the deployment.
"There was a feeling of great excitement," Leder said, "and at the same time we were praying for the safety of all the Marines. It's like, 'OK, this is the real thing.' "
Dent said that "just under 100" members of the squadron were deployed along with the aircraft after training for the mission for more than a year. The Thunder Chickens' 28 pilots, including two women, all volunteered and were chosen by a Marine Corps selection board.
The squadron commander is Lt. Col. Paul J. Rock Jr., who has been flying Ospreys since the 1990s. At least a third of the squadron have had previous combat experience in Iraq.
Inquirer staff writer Chris Mondics contributed to this article.
September 20, 2007
Pg. 1
By Dave Montgomery, McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - The first combat squadron of tilt-rotor V-22 Ospreys has quietly set off to Iraq, ushering a new and controversial form of aerial technology into 21st-century warfare.
A Marine Corps aviation squadron and 10 Ospreys sailed for Iraq on Monday aboard a small Navy aircraft carrier known as an amphibious assault ship, said a Marine Corps spokesman, Maj. Eric Dent.
The USS Wasp's departure from the New River Marine Corps Air Station near Jacksonville, N.C., was made under tight security with no advance public notice and no ceremonial speeches by Marine Corps officials. "It was just another workday for the squadron," Dent said.
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, nicknamed "The Thunder Chickens," will be based at the Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq for at least seven months of combat operations. The Marine Corps Ospreys, known as MV-22s, will be used to ferry Marines as well as cargo throughout the predominantly Sunni Anbar province.
Dent, citing "operational security," offered limited details about the deployment and said he was not allowed to discuss the timetable of the trip or scheduled arrival in Iraq. The V-22s could conceivably leave the Wasp en route and fly the rest of the way.
The deployment marks a long-sought goal after more than three decades of tilt-rotor research. The aircraft is a joint venture of Bell Helicopter, based in Forth Worth, Texas, and Boeing Co., which assembles the Osprey fuselage at its Ridley plant in Delaware County.
The aircraft flies like an airplane and lands and takes off like a helicopter, reaches speeds and distances well beyond those of traditional helicopters, and is considered far more agile than the aging CH-46 "Sea Knight" helicopters that it is replacing.
But the Osprey's entry into combat will be under scrutiny after years of delays and rising costs, and two fatal crashes in 2000 that nearly led to the program's cancellation.
Critics have long suggested that the aircraft's unusual combination of airplane and helicopter technology made it inherently unstable and vulnerable to ground fire on the approach to battlefield landing zones.
Concern focused on aerodynamic features unique to the Osprey. On some descents, it has a tendency to become enveloped in its rotor downwash - a condition known as vortex ring state - and then crash.
While helicopters are subject to similar difficulties, little was known at the time of an Osprey crash in Arizona in 2000 attributed to vortex ring state, about relatively simple steps pilots can take to reverse the condition. Those tactics are now part of the training for Osprey pilots.
Critics say the tilt-rotor concept is still unproven and could endanger the lives of its crew members in combat. Supporters say it is ideal for combat and will enable Marines to get into hot spots faster and safer.
The decision to deploy the Osprey to Iraq, first announced in April, virtually ensures that Congress will continue to fund production of the aircraft.
Boeing spokesman Jack Satterfield said 1,650 workers are involved in the Osprey at the Ridley plant.
Overall, the military plans to purchase 458 Ospreys, the bulk of them for the Marines.
Bell-Boeing spokesman Bob Leder, based in Amarillo, Texas, said workers were not aware that their handiwork was on its way to Iraq until he posted a copy of a Marine Corps Times article about the deployment.
"There was a feeling of great excitement," Leder said, "and at the same time we were praying for the safety of all the Marines. It's like, 'OK, this is the real thing.' "
Dent said that "just under 100" members of the squadron were deployed along with the aircraft after training for the mission for more than a year. The Thunder Chickens' 28 pilots, including two women, all volunteered and were chosen by a Marine Corps selection board.
The squadron commander is Lt. Col. Paul J. Rock Jr., who has been flying Ospreys since the 1990s. At least a third of the squadron have had previous combat experience in Iraq.
Inquirer staff writer Chris Mondics contributed to this article.
