Disgusting waste of money and lives

Now normally I'm pretty hip to the articles Wired publishes. Good stuff. Good insight. Interesting reading. Not this time. This time, they chose to highlight the V-22 and it's 'recovery' from cost overruns, improper designs, skipped testing, and lives lost. Unfortunately, at no time does the article mention the fact that every test done involving the actual soldiers or Marines stuck in the back has been an abysmal failure. The passenger compartment is too small for the number of soldiers required to make the plane effective. The rotor wash is too strong to support fast roping (or even easily disembarking when landed). The seats are too small for combat-loaded troops. The cargo area is so small, a new vehicle has to be designed...JUST to fit the specs of the V-22. As you might imagine, this vehicle has no other practical purpose beyond "proving the V-22 works." Just what I want to roll into combat with.

What else to discuss? The transition period between straight flight and hover is too slow for combat landings. Most troops in the rear get sick during flight. It's too cramped to easily escape from in the event of a crash. It carries substantially fewer troops than the CH-53 OR CH-46 it will replace - requiring more sorties to deliver the same number of troops to a target...and since it's more vulnerable during landing, this will expose more troops to risk more often. But hey, it allows the Marines to proudly state they can now project force further inland...so they can one up the Army in the endlessly silly desire to 'secure more missions.' I got news for you boys...'secure more missions' is a legacy of the '90s. Everyone has PLENTY of missions now.

Because the Corps has doggedly chosen to pursue the Osprey in place of a decent transport helicopter, it has risked additional lives by keeping its CH-46 and CH-53 fleet in the air long beyond when they should have been retired. And this will continue to be the case as the military has to pay for replacing equipment worn out or destroyed in Iraq and Afghanistan. And since it costs much more than the helicopters it is replacing, fewer will be fielded...once again limiting the Marines' mobility.

But hey, look on the bright side. They fixed the nacelle. Who cares about the troops who have to fight out of the back, right?

Tags:


Pork barrel projects
Osprey
Pentagon mistakes