Most of the delays are caused by Congress, which fiddles endlessly with the funding schedule. This leads to development slowdowns, and ultimately cost overruns.
Scrapping these programs now would cost more than it would save, both on the battlefield and in the Pentagon. Don't forget, any canceled program has to be replaced, and I notice that this author has no suggestions for this, beyond forcing the military to make do with the aging gear.
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Nuff said.
Likewise, let’s start requiring job specific physical standards for soldiers. The New York Fire Department has a fairly rigorous fitness test for every “basic trainee”: in a force of 11,000+, only 36 women have made the grade. Surely a battlefield is tougher than any fire fighting scenario…why the discrepancy in requirements.
The real waste of dollars is on the personnel side, not in procuring weapons?
============================== Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 16:00:09 -0800 Subject: HMM-264 Will Be First Squadron To Deploy With Osprey HMM-264 Will Be First Squadron To Deploy With Osprey By Cpl. Derek A. Shoemake MCAS NEW RIVER, N.C. (March 2) -- When Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 264 deploys with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in July, it will mark the beginning of the end of the CH-46E Sea Knight and the CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter. Only months after returning from the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Knights will begin steps to become the first non-training squadron in the world to employ the use of the Marine Corps' new MV-22 Osprey, which will replace the Corps' fleet of '46Es and '53Ds. Major Jeffrey Mosher, who is responsible for overseeing his squadron's transition to the Osprey, said if everything runs on schedule, it will be just over three years until the squadron deploys with the new aircraft. Though that time line may sound expanded, Mosher points out it is actually quite compressed, and in fact the most compressed timeline for an Osprey transition. The process will begin in January 2001, with the enlisted transition plan. According to Mosher, during this evolution, enlisted personnel, such as crew chiefs and mechanics, will take classes at New River's Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Training Squadron (VMMT) 204, while getting hands-on experience with the Osprey. Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Training Squadron 204 will also host the pilot transition process, which is scheduled to begin in March 2001. Like the enlisted transition plan, classes will be staggered to keep a certain number of people working in the squadron while others train. Mosher said if the transition begins as scheduled, all VMMT-204 training will wrap up January 2002. However, the overall transition will not be over. "Take a guy like me," said Mosher. "I have 3,400 flight hours, but when I get through with '204, I'll only be a co-pilot." When the aircrew return from VMMT-204, the squadron will be joined by the Advanced Tilt Rotor Training Unit. This is a cadre of pilots and crewmen with extensive Osprey experience. The training unit will work with the Marines of HMM-264, who will be renamed Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron (VMM) 264, until the pilots and crewmen are combat qualified. "Look at it as a step approach," said Mosher. "When we get back from '204 we'll be only 100-level complete, which means we'll be only combat capable. With (the Advanced Tilt Rotor Training Unit) we'll get to the 200 or 300 level, which means we will become combat qualified." This, according to Mosher, is where the real time crunch comes into play. Only nine months after returning from VMMT-204, VMM-264 pilots and crewmen will join a Marine Expeditionary Unit. Only six months after that, they are scheduled to depart with that MEU. This will be the first Osprey squadron deployment in history. Though the time line may be tight, Marines who now work with the CH-46E and CH-53D said they are ready for the challenge. "I think Marines understand that we have to keep moving forward, however much we love (the CH-46E)," said SSgt. James MacFarlane, CH-46 flight line chief and Baldwin, Wis. native. "In the world we live in, we all have to be adaptable to change. If there's one constant in the Marine Corps, it's change." That change has some major advantages. According to Bell Helicopter Textron and the Boeing Company, who jointly produced the MV-22 Osprey, with its tilt rotor mechanics, the twin-turbine aircraft can take off and land like a helicopter, and fly as fast as a turboprop plane. Within 20 seconds of take-off, the 38-foot rotor systems can rotate 90 degrees forward, putting the aircraft into a fixed-wing mode capable of a cruising speed in excess of 240 knots. "When I talk to guys who fly the aircraft, they say it's almost indescribable," said Mosher, who has flown the Osprey in flight simulators. According to Bell and Boeing, speed is not the only advantage of the Osprey. The aircraft has a payload capable of transporting 24 combat-loaded troops or carrying more than 10,000 pounds externally. The Osprey can also travel 2,100 nautical miles with only one aerial refuel. Mosher said this makes the aircraft better in a combat situation. "When we plan a combat mission with a '46E, we're inside of 60 to 75 nautical mile radius," he said. "But with the V-22, we can operate inside of an approximate 250 nautical mile radius with twice the payload. This extends what we can do from sea. "Just look at (deploying to the Combined Arms Exercise at Marine Corps Base Twentynine Palms, Calif.) If you want to take the '46Es, you need C-130s for equipment transport and a few days to get there. The V-22s, which are self deployable, are there in nine hours." Mosher said the greatest advantages may not even be known yet. "I don't think we have begun to realize the possibilities," he said. "This is going to change doctrines. This is going to lead the way." The Marine Corps plans to have all 22 active duty CH-46E and CH-53D helicopter squadrons using the Osprey by 2015.