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That phrase in the ad "the right decisions" is spot on...Some lieutenants were hopping with glee at their coming holiday present, only to find out Father Christmas was not real.
That phrase in the ad "the right decisions" is spot on...Some lieutenants were hopping with glee at their coming holiday present, only to find out Father Christmas was not real.
It is a good thing we were not this legally sensitive in 1960 or the CH-47 would never have gotten past an Alpha model. Then, there were not as many lawyers in 1960.
At the same time, the Military should go to great lengths to make equipment that isn't going to kill their troops. Their troops are OUR families. They're not "expendable assets". This is a citizen-based military. "National Defense" is not an excuse for gear that has high accident rates. Military aviation is inherently dangerous, but you could make a strong argument that Osprey operations present an unreasonable risk compared to other military transport aircraft.It is a good thing we were not this legally sensitive in 1960 or the CH-47 would never have gotten past an Alpha model. Then, there were not as many lawyers in 1960.
At the same time, the Military should go to great lengths to make equipment that isn't going to kill their troops. Their troops are OUR families. They're not "expendable assets". This is a citizen-based military. "National Defense" is not an excuse for gear that has high accident rates. Military aviation is inherently dangerous, but you could make a strong argument that Osprey operations present an unreasonable risk compared to other military transport aircraft.
They currently arent allowed to fly more than 30 minutes from a divertible airfield which makes them pretty useless for at sea replenishment.
How much of that rate is because of the numerous restrictions that have been placed on its operations?Except that it has an accident rate solidly in the middle of other rotorcraft, and significantly better than the aircraft it replaces.
Groupthink gives V-22 a bad rap
The tiltrotor’s safety record is on par with other Pentagon rotorcraft—none of which can match its capability and performance.www.defenseone.com
How much of that rate is because of the numerous restrictions that have been placed on its operations?
How much of that rate is because of the numerous restrictions that have been placed on its operations?
Basically none.It flew quite a lot in Afghanistan and fared better than the remaining CH-46s there.
At the same time, the Military should go to great lengths to make equipment that isn't going to kill their troops. Their troops are OUR families. They're not "expendable assets". This is a citizen-based military. "National Defense" is not an excuse for gear that has high accident rates. Military aviation is inherently dangerous, but you could make a strong argument that Osprey operations present an unreasonable risk compared to other military transport aircraft.
very little trial by fire combat experience.
It replaced the CH-46 in USMC service. Would that not be a better comparison?Boeing itself only describes it has having a handful of combat operations and from that you have the crash in Afghanistan in April 2010 (the head of the investigation said he would never fly the aircraft again), The Jan 2017 crash in Yemen and the September 2017 crash in Syria. 12 were deployed in Iraq (and it performed worse than the aircraft it replaced with only 57-68% availability despite being described by users as being 'babied' with a low sortie rate) though started to repair its reputation in Afghanistan where again 12 were deployed (albeit commandant George Trautman stressed that while it saw slightly more kinetic action than in Iraq it was primarily a passenger and cargo ferry not a aircraft for embroiling in hostile action). But in its over a decade of service its never been able to sustain a operational availability rate on deployment greater than 60-62% for any prolonged period (or 80% in US based training squadrons), by comparison the CH-53E is experiencing an availability rate on deployment "in the high 90's".
The Osprey currently has a Mean Flight Hours Before Failure logged of 1.4 (down from 1.6) against 1.2 during development and a performance requirement for 0.9 and Mean Flight Hours Before Mission Abort of 28.9 (down from 29.2) against 15 hours during development and performance requirement of 15 hours according to its 2020 Presidential Acquisition Report. Do you have comparable figures for the CH-53E or CH-53K?
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Why are you comparing against the H53?Boeing itself only describes it has having a handful of combat operations and from that you have the crash in Afghanistan in April 2010 (the head of the investigation said he would never fly the aircraft again), The Jan 2017 crash in Yemen and the September 2017 crash in Syria. 12 were deployed in Iraq (and it performed worse than the aircraft it replaced with only 57-68% availability despite being described by users as being 'babied' with a low sortie rate) though started to repair its reputation in Afghanistan where again 12 were deployed (albeit commandant George Trautman stressed that while it saw slightly more kinetic action than in Iraq it was primarily a passenger and cargo ferry not a aircraft for embroiling in hostile action). But in its over a decade of service its never been able to sustain a operational availability rate on deployment greater than 60-62% for any prolonged period (or 80% in US based training squadrons), by comparison the CH-53E is experiencing an availability rate on deployment "in the high 90's".
The Osprey currently has a Mean Flight Hours Before Failure logged of 1.4 (down from 1.6) against 1.2 during development and a performance requirement for 0.9 and Mean Flight Hours Before Mission Abort of 28.9 (down from 29.2) against 15 hours during development and performance requirement of 15 hours according to its 2020 Presidential Acquisition Report. Do you have comparable figures for the CH-53E or CH-53K?
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It replaced the CH-46 in USMC service. Would that not be a better comparison?
So compare the accident rate per X-flight hours over the first 20 years. It won't be definitive, but it might indicate how the V-22 is doing.CH-46 was over 50 years old when it left service, that wouldnt be a fair comparison with a aircraft that officially entered service in 2007. Better to compare to a Heavy lift helicopter of similar age.
1988 was a very long time ago. Back then, the XV-15 was an exceptionally successful concept demonstrator. Perhaps too successful. Over the decades, the Osprey has gained quite the reputation for a widowmaker, deserved or not. There was even a fatality where the airframe didn’t crash. Standard procedure was/is(?) apparently to leave the ramp down during takeoffs to make it easier to ditch. After an engine out warning, a crew member jumped out and was lost at sea while the pilot apparently recovered from the engine out. The recent fleet wide grounding means that there’s every reason to expect that a lawsuit might get to discovery instead of being summarily dismissed. Boeing’s current spiral doesn’t help but the limitation of COD Ospreys to operation within 50 miles of a divert airfield is the icing on the cake. When an aircraft of such protracted development and long service can’t safely operate over more than a 50 mile radius, there has to be a serious concern on the part of the Navy. I would consider this to be a good faith lawsuit and not entirely frivolous. It all depends on the initial judge. These days the law is a coin toss.They're going to have a really hard time getting over Boyle v. United Technologies:
Boyle v. United Technologies Corp., 487 U.S. 500 (1988)
Boyle v. United Technologies Corp.: Military equipment that meets prior requirements set by the federal government cannot have a design defect sufficient to hold its manufacturer liable.supreme.justia.com
Honestly, I think the discovery process of a lawsuit would allow our elected leaders to move forward an Osprey replacement. Boeing might even get the contract. Looking back, Boeing’s own Model 360 was the lowest risk CH-46 replacement. Oddly enough the existing CH-47 has always had the ability to perform a water landing like a Sea King and all it really lacked were a few simple marinisation anti-corrosion measures. With the Marine Corp shifting to a defensive orientation, basically holding Pacific Islands as opposed to taking them, an interim CH-47 fleet might slot in nicely below the CH-53K. You could even resell them to allies if something better comes along. Throw in a proportion of Sikorsky S-70 derivatives and you have a relatively cheap and low risk fix for the Osprey. Or just replace the entire Osprey fleet with the V-280. All it takes is a little political courage to put the Osprey saga behind us.I doubt the U.S. government will just dump the platform regardless of a judicial outcome. Both investment and lack of suitable replacement in period of increasing tensions make that a very unlikely scenario.
CH47s are the size of an H53. Much bigger than an H46!Honestly, I think the discovery process of a lawsuit would allow our elected leaders to move forward an Osprey replacement. Boeing might even get the contract. Looking back, Boeing’s own Model 360 was the lowest risk CH-46 replacement. Oddly enough the existing CH-47 has always had the ability to perform a water landing like a Sea King and all it really lacked were a few simple marinisation anti-corrosion measures. With the Marine Corp shifting to a defensive orientation, basically holding Pacific Islands as opposed to taking them, an interim CH-47 fleet might slot in nicely below the CH-53K. You could even resell them to allies if something better comes along. Throw in a proportion of Sikorsky S-70 derivatives and you have a relatively cheap and low risk fix for the Osprey. Or just replace the entire Osprey fleet with the V-280. All it takes is a little political courage to put the Osprey saga behind us.
Flight deck size doesn’t matter as much in a largely defensive Marine Corp strategy that focuses on holding islands rather than taking them. In other words, more emphasis is based on land based assets.CH47s are the size of an H53. Much bigger than an H46!
Still using those flight decks to get to the islands to be held.Flight deck size doesn’t matter as much in a largely defensive Marine Corp strategy that focuses on holding islands rather than taking them. In other words, more emphasis is based on land based assets.
Found here, in fact:AV-22 :
Found on X.
So, 20mm M197, 6x Mavericks, and 2x Sidewinders?
As with most nifty concepts... kinda spendy.So, 20mm M197, 6x Mavericks, and 2x Sidewinders?
Kinda surprised that the USMC didn't push for a few of those to replace their Cobras back in the day...
Commandant: "No, congressman, these replace the AH-1 Cobras that cannot keep up with the Ospreys. Harriers are about twice the speed of the AV22, and carry different weapons. So they do a different job. Harriers do what the USAF calls 'interdiction,' stopping the enemy before he's gotten into close contact with our troops. AV22s do close air support as if they're a helicopter."Congressman from the great state of anywhere -"So General, with these MV-22 attack variant, we can get rid of the Harriers, right?"
What I've seen of Marine helicopters is that they tend to stay moving instead of stopping in a hover somewherePerhaps this is going a bit off topic, but how often were USMC AH-1s expected to perform the sort of nap-of-earth flight tank hunting that US Army AH-1s and AH-64s trained to do? I know USMC aviation is all about close-air-support, but depending on enemy SHORAD a typical "gunship" attack profile might not work. The AV-22 might have offered a major improvement over the AH-1 while simultaneously being less ideal for some specific cases.
Of course, the funding was never going to be there for it. IIRC the AH-1W Super Cobra itself came into existence because the USMC couldn't get the funds for shiny new AH-64s, so I don't think there was any way in hell the money would be found for AV-22s.
There's not a whole lot of cover where the Marines usually train, so they tend to keep moving and fly more like an attack plane.I always believed they flew a 'shoot and scoot' profile from behind cover. Show the mast and nothing else.