Semper Fi may god be with you
2007-04-14 06:56:30 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
got cleared this week for Iraq
2007-04-14 07:04:12 · update #1
The Osprey is ready for battle. It is set to deploy for Iraq in Semptember.Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 "Thunder Chickens" is the squadron to be deployed.
2007-04-15 09:10:27 · answer #1 · answered by bk_assazzin1 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes on the Friday NBC evening news there was a segment about the Osprey becoming operational. The development of this aircraft was long and hard with 2 really bad crashes during the testing. The whole program was almost canceled more than once but the Marine Corps really wanted this equipment because of it's speed, range, and ability to land troops anywhere. Time will tell if all the bugs have been taken out of the Osprey. A few crashes caused by defects in the design could be disastrous but the company and the marine corps have put 10 years of testing into the plane and they expect no problems.
2007-04-14 22:52:58 · answer #2 · answered by ericbryce2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What's really needed are 1) Armed Osprey. It would make a very nice special-ops aircraft... Faster than almost anything SOAR would have access to. Just need a bit more RAM and stealth design to be really good one 2) Jet power. Modern computer tech added to engines with steerable nozzles would mean the nacelles no longer need to do a full rotation like the current Osprey.
But the current one is better than any chopper we have... MUCH faster in airplane mode. Ability to bring more troops in faster is an ability every commander would want. Once it goes operational, it'll get used for everything. Just imagine medevac Osprey, completely with built-in EMT equipment! You can't do that in a tiny chopper...
Or imagine Osprey escorted by unmanned vehicles, and controlling them as well. One Osprey controlling multiple armed UAVs can execute simultaneous attacks that once require a whole squadron of fighter/bombers or a dozen or more cruise missiles.
The future is here, and it's just starting...
2007-04-15 04:32:01 · answer #3 · answered by Kasey C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Osprey is as ready as the helicopter was in its early days. I'm not a big fan of its design. I believe that the engines should be mounted to the fuselage, not out on the wingtips. Jet engines, turning at a high rate of speed, should not be bent and twisted by precession during movement. However, a drive shaft from an engine is built to take these stresses. I guess that bigger minds than mine feel differently. The Osprey is a machine in its infancy, but like the helicopter, it will see improvements in the near future......and remember that the helicopter is still fighting a few physical laws, too.
2007-04-14 23:13:51 · answer #4 · answered by mojonah 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably as ready as the Sgt. York AAA gun was. It seems like a good answer to a question that needed to be addressed, but I think it's still a little on the buggy side. To many accidents. Not a complete failure like the York, but still needs some work. Tilt rotor tech is still in it's infancy. I don't think it should be used in battle until it's proven itself a bit more reliable.
2007-04-14 14:02:56 · answer #5 · answered by rifleman01@verizon.net 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋