Hagel: US to expedite delivery of V-22 Osprey aircraft to Israel

Jpost ^ | 11/01/2013 | JPOST.COM STAFF

[klpt]

The US will fast-track delivery of six V-22 Osprey helicopter-plane aircraft to Israel, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Thursday in his address to the Anti-Defamation League's centennial conference in New York.

NBC News reported that the Pentagon agreed to send Israel the next batch of Ospreys to come off the production line after Israel requested this week that the delivery of the aircraft be expedited amid threats from Iran and Syria. The next group of Ospreys had originally been slated for assignation to the US Marines, a Pentagon official told NBC.

"Israel will get six V-22s out of the next order to go on the assembly line, and they will be compatible with other [Israeli defense] capabilities," Hagel was quoted by NBC as saying at the ADL conference.

[Secret Agent Man]

Aren’t the arabs killing enough Israelis fast enough without the Osprey? Do we have to help them accelerate the numbers?

[null and void]

Huh?

[Jacquerie]

No kidding. What has Israel done to deserve the Osprey?

[Steely Tom]

No kidding. What has Israel done to deserve the Osprey?

There must be some reason they want it.

[Secret Agent Man]

Why not just give them machine guns that have reverse-pointing barrels on them?

[GeronL]

They have held off a billion Muslims for decades

[Deb]

I didn’t think we were even still producing the Ospreys.

[Hardraade]

There’s always leftists in Israel who wil jump up and down with the American flag even if it kills thousands of Jews.

[Hardraade]

The V-22 is in its third or fourth generation now.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

It still doesn’t look like it wants to fly.

[onedoug]

Re Wikipedia: Israel had shown an early interest in the V-22.[167][168] Reports in late 2009 stated that Israel favored the Sikorsky CH-53K.[169] In 2011, Israel expressed a new interest in the V-22 to support special operations and in search & rescue operations.[170][171] In 2013, Israel was reportedly interested in a possible lease of six to eight aircraft for special operations missions; the type is not to act as a replacement for existing rotorcraft.[172] On 22 April 2013, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel finalized an arms agreement to sell the V-22 to the Israel Air Force, along with tanker aircraft, radars, and anti-radiation missiles.[173] The Israeli aircraft are to be moved to the front of the production queue, delaying some USMC deliveries.[174]

[steelhead_trout]

Might be the worst investment in an aircraft Israel made since it bought those Czech-built Me109s (the ones with so much torque they swung like pendulums on takeoff and landing). Seriously, what does an Osprey do that a helicopter can’t?

[elcid1970]

IIRC, the P-51 Mustang with the Roll-Royce engine had to be throttled very slowly for the same reason: super torque.

Anyway, the V-22 has enough problems as it is. This deal smells.

[LSUfan]

The utter ignorance on this thread is absolutely profound.

The V-22 had a very tough development, but its operational service has been stellar.

It has an outstanding safety record and has served in combat in multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Israel wants them because, unlike the armchair morons on this thread, they recognize what a transformational platform the tiltrotor Osprey is.

If you actually saw one fly in person, you wouldn’t say they don’t look like they want to fly, that’s for damn sure.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I agree, there are some deployed here at Kirtland AFB and they fly over my place in the mountains quite a bit, plus I work right near the base so I see them a lot. It is a very cool aircraft. The first time you hear one it’s “what????” it has a very distinctive sound.

[Deb]

How is it performing?

[Deb]

They must know what they’re doing. Fingers crossed...

[VF-51vnv]

you sir are correct. That was my project when it was in “X” prototype through 1st production model. Saw it through test flights,endurance tests.Was on the runway at Bell when they did a test flight for all employees. S.O.B is stealth, you will never see or hear till its on your butt. Only problem I seen is when they did the ballistics tests on the under belly. You didn't want to be inside then.......now ok