Things move pretty fast, relatively, in Marine TacAir. That's why one needs to pay close attention.
Photo by: Lance Cpl. Samuel D. White
Photo ID: 2006822115214
Submitting Unit: MCAS New River
Photo Date:08/22/2006
Posted on 03/11/2007 8:05:23 PM PDT by 68skylark
Thanks for the information. That's why I like FR so much.
It's sort of a "donkey", neither true "horse"(airplane)or "mule"(helicopter). In REAL war it's shortcomings will become all too apparent, but too late of course as these ospreys, like the turkeys they are, sit....grounded as death traps from advanced RPGs/terrorist ground fire. There are better ways to do the V22 mission....but as with the mexican priest and his burro....
Millions for de fence (at the border) but not one cent for illegals.
I think you got your 'donkeys' and 'mules' confused. The mule is the hybrid -- but I get your point...
Mexican priest and his burro : Father Pepe gets word that one of his parishoners is dying at his home out in the countryside. This means extreme unction pronto. He grabs his rosary beads and bible, runs out of the church and jumps on burro. Vaya burro, Vaya. Burro stands there, unmoving.
He spurs burro in the ribs, VAYA burro, ARRIBA. Burro just stands there, unmoving. He jumps off, prays to burro's face : por favor burro, god's work must be done pronto. Burro just stands there, unmoving. Finally in frustration he picks up a big tree limb and HITS burro on the nose.
Burro jumps up and trots off. Father Pepe jumps on and away they go. Nino pablito has taken this all in and shouts to Father Pepe, "Holy Father, you are such a gentle man, why you hit burro?" I know my son, I know. First I spurred burro, then I prayed to burro, pleaded with burro, to no effect; then I finally realized that first I had to get the JACKASS'S ATTENTION!!!
Donkey, mule, burro, JACKASS...it will take a few RPGs/cheap shoulder held missiles bringing down V22s to illustrate that it is just as vulnerable as any other aircraft to hostile ground fire. Only then will they realize that this hybrid design was a dead end road, a BURRO, a MULE that is neither true aircraft nor true helicopter. A lot of our guys will die proving it.
There are better design concepts that will do the V22 mission but are much safer. Fielding the V22 only encourages the proliferation of RPGs/small missiles and a continuation of what we see now. A "burro" that shrugs off that hostile ground fire would "cool their ardor" for violence, thus bringing PEACE to that violent, demon-filled region. Wouldn't that be nice?
I'm an agnostic when it comes to the V22. It definitely does have some advantages over conventional rotary-wing aviation: chiefly speed & range. I can see major applications for Special Operations. That said, I'm skeptical that this particular craft will replace the medium-lift helo for most jobs. Looks like the Pentagon has placed its bets, however.
In the WOT it's a battle between technical quality vs cannon fodder quantity. Technological superiority is our edge, the only thing that keeps the USA alive within an entire world that hates us. If we make a major mistake like putting all our eggs in the V22 basket, there won't be a second chance to get it right NEXT TIME, there won't be a "next time".
Look at iraq right now : RPGs bring down advanced helicopters that don't fly fast-erratic courses. The V22 will die in just the same way. An 18" to 24" thick kevlar skin is what's needed. But that will only DAWN on them after many troops are lost, and it will be too late then...
Are you an engineer? Do you have any idea how much that would weigh & what THAT would do to the fuel capacity & payload of ANY aircraft, much less the V22?
You can build heavily armored attack helicopters, this is true. But when the object is to build a troop carrier you immediately get into tradeoffs... The V22 & any troop carrying helicopter is essentially a flying truck. Trucks are not designed for battle either & so the operational planner must be careful how close 'trucks' get to the actual shooting.
This is why I think the V22 has a lot of promise in SpecOps & other roles like ASW & Minesweeping. Troop carrying? Not sure that the range, speed & payload advantages are worth the price of a lack of self-defense armament & apparent fragility. (On that much we agree).
Of course the aircrews that will deploy the Osprey in combat and are all too well versed in the tactical shortcomings and vulnerabilities of the platforms they used to fly, mostly CH-46E and CH-53D, are laughing their a$$es off at ignorant comments like yours.
Things move pretty fast, relatively, in Marine TacAir. That's why one needs to pay close attention.
Has their been any ideas floating around of a gunship configuration? or using it as an airborne laser platform?
Since it has the capacity of a good sized payload I would think it would be great for a Close in Weapons platform using either high speed gatling guns or the Australian designed Metalstorm systems.
Was on the beach in NC just south of Camp Lejuene and saw a formation of 15 of em fly by. Pretty impressive. They really can haul a## compared to a chopper.
The trade off is range.
Acoustic signature of the Osprey is 1/3 that of the Sea Knight.
If, a big IF, the world survives the 21st century, there will be a smithsonian museum somewhere that features past ways of getting around. People will LAUGH at the V22 osprey, the shuttle, nuclear powered aircraft carriers : did they REALLY get around in those things mommie? WOW! How primitive they were, imagine that....
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