Staff report
Posted : Friday Nov 6, 2009 20:43:31 EST

Ten MV-22B Ospreys from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit landed in Afghanistan Friday, marking yet another milestone for the aircraft.

Pilots from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (Reinforced) took off from the amphibious assault ship Bataan in waves of three, flying the nearly 600 miles to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, in just over two hours, according to a news release.

The aircraft will be transferred to VMM-261 upon their arrival from Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C. It is not clear if the nearly 200 North Carolina-based Marines have deployed yet.

The move means the MEU wont have any medium-lift capability for the remainder of its deployment, which is scheduled to last until December, but spokesman Capt. Clark Carpenter said that should the need arise, the units heavy-lift fleet can get the job done.

We still retain flexibility with the lift provided by our four CH-53E Super Stallions, Carpenter said. For any close-air support, we still have four AH-1W Super Cobras, two UH-1N Hueys and six AV-8B Harriers.


091106-N-7508R-002 U.S. 5TH FLEET AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (Nov. 6, 2009) An MV-22B Osprey from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 263 (Reinforced), 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU), prepares to take off from the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5). The aircraft were flown to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, where they will be transferred to VMM 261 and used to support the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. This is the first time the aircraft will be used in Afghanistan. The 22nd MEU is serving as the theater reserve force for U.S. Central Command. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Julio Rivera/Released)




http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/marine_osprey_110609w/

Let's hope it fares better in Afghanistan than it did in Iraq......

I thought it performed well in Iraq?



When I was young I used to pray for a bike, then I realized that God doesn't work that way, so I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness.

Maintenance and availability rates were well below expectations.

Someone posted that article on here a few months ago.  Marines were reviewing it's performance but I suppose they decided it was worth another deployment. 

I gotta say, back in the 1990's and early 2000's I supported the Osprey program.......but in retrospection, given its cost and shortcomings (specifically payload), I would have rather seen this money invested into more traditional rotary wing platforms.

In the end, the V-22 is revolutionary, but its kinda hard not to question if the capabilities garnered are really worth the price............at least IMO.

At least the tech is there and the Yanks will have something to look at if they try again (no doubt they will). It cost ****loads, but you never know, another such bird could see the light of day that works and changes the dynamics of asymmetrical warfare.

Siege of Tobruk - One German POW said: "I cannot understand you Australians. In Poland, France, and Belgium, once the tanks got through the soldiers took it for granted that they were beaten. But you are like demons. The tanks break through and your infantry still keep fighting." Rommel wrote of seeing "a batch of some fifty or sixty Australian prisoners ... marched off close behind usimmensely big and powerful men, who without question represented an elite formation of the British Empire, a fact that was also evident in battle."


"As a Internet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

I hope they don't put people in them...


"He lives in a world where concept is reality..."

Very true Rzecz, the V-22 will probably be one of those platforms that you can't really judge until 50 years down the road, the future of the tilt-rotor is bit too hazy to call as of now......the success (or failure) of the Bell/Agusta BA609 will also be pretty vital to the outcome of the tilt-rotor IMO.

i know the mission availability rate was pretty poor in iraq, but at least there were no crashes. then again, only 12 were deployed and they were not used in the full range of missions anticipated. its moment of glory so far has been the ride that obama took in one when he visited iraq as a candidate.

i think the speed and range of v-22 will be hugely useful in afghanistan. lets hope they don't fill it with troops and stick it into hot lz's... it takes off quickly, but i don't think they ever found a way to get the landing transition up to full tactical speed.

even if it proves useful, its still a busted project and a total waste of money.

but at least there were no crashes

I'm a long and well documented foe of the V-22..........money hog, very questionable reliability, questionable usefulness.......but I predicted the Iraqi V-22 deployment would be a disaster that killed more friendlies than enemy.  It didn't and while there were sizeable operational problems with it, it wasn't a total disaster.  I give it some shred of credit for that. 

I still believe a purchase of off-the-shelf types.......S-92, US-101.......would have been a FAR better use of  FAR less money and operational readiness but it didn't happen.  As it is the Osprey is turning into a special use machine rather than a deployable tactical asset for common operations but it still has some place. 

 

 

Expensive, problematic, but still, it fills a nice little niche role that only the Osprey can call its own. No conventional rotary wing aircraft are comparable when it comes to range and flexibility in quick-reaction contingency operations. Still, there are a lot of things left to be desired, especially when there's little that the Super Stallions and Sea Knights were unable to do.





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