Osprey Will Join Fleet In 2007

The Marine Corps hopes to start replacing its fleet of Vietnam-era Helicopters with the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft by 2007, the Marines' top air commander said Wednesday. The announcement came about a month after the $71 million aircraft successfully completed a safety evaluation ordered in the wake of two crashes that killed 23 Marines in 2000. The crashes led to a 17-month suspension of the Osprey program, as well as an investigation that resulted in changes in the design of the unique aircraft. Lt. Gen. Michael Hough, chief of Marine Corps Aviation, acknowledged the Osprey - which takes off like a helicopter but flies like an airplane - developed a bad reputation after the crashes. But, he insisted, "This is a safe airplane." "It will be the war machine we want it to be," Hough said. And even though Congress has yet to approve the $50.5 billion program, The Corps is already training pilots and ground crews. "The process of fielding (the Osprey) has already begun," said Col. Craig Olson, the joint program project manager from the Air Force. The cost of the aircraft has risen from an original estimate of about $40 million each, but officials say the price should drop to about $58 million if they reach full production of about 48 units a year. The Marine Corps wants 360 of the aircraft, while the Air Force wants 50 for its special operations troops. The Navy also is considering the aircraft. The Marine Corps took several dozen journalists on rides along the New River and the Atlantic coast bordering Marine Installations. The flights included maneuvers aimed at showing off the aircraft's ability to take off quickly, achieve high speeds and bank sharply in flight. This air base, which shares part of the New River shoreline with Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, has 25 Ospreys that are under the command of a special test and evaluation squadron that reports to a Navy Admiral. During the final testing, eight Ospreys were tested at sea level and at landing zones at 10,000-foot altitudes and in conditions simulating the fine desert sand of Iraq, said Col. Glenn Walters, commander of VMX-22, the test squadron. The Osprey can carry more troops - and for a longer distance at a higher speed - than the CH-46 helicopter it is designed to replace, Walters said. In addition, the Osprey requires less maintenance time for each hour of flight. Evaluation flights have taught the squadron's pilots that by tilting the engines slightly, they can avoid the kind of turbulence that destroyed lift and contributed to a crash, Olson said. The key to acceptance of the Osprey by Congress and critics, though, is to stop comparing it to helicopters, Hough said. "This is not a helicopter," Hough said.