Untold Cost of the V-22

Is there an unspoken tragedy that extends beyond the loss of 30 Marines in several V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor crashes during the aircraft’s more than two decades of development and testing? Pentagon insiders think so: One wonders how many lives have been lost in crashes of rickety-old Viet Nam era CH-46E and CH-53A/D helicopters not being replaced while money instead was spent on the V-22.

In Iraq and Afghanistan alone, more than 150 copters have been lost either to enemy fire or mechanical failures since U.S. armed forces headed to battle in those hot, dusty, and high-altitude desert and mountain regions, according to Pentagon sources. Could lives have been spared had the Marines sunk some of their money into new, updated versions of legacy copters rather than spending billions of dollars and years of political infighting on the V-22 – an overpriced cargo and troop hauler that isn’t safe to land in a combat zone?

“I think this remains one of the untold stories of the V-22 Osprey,” one source said.

Comments

[Joe Katzman]

Helicopters are simply unsafe in relative terms vs. other aircraft. Period.

My country Canada just bought a bunch of new-design, new build EH101s for search and rescue. Thet're all grounded now due to rotorhub cracks and structural issues - issued that took down at least one British EH101 Merlin recently. And the EH101 is no old bird- it's the most modern medium helicopter for many European armed forces (It's also the new US "Marine One" Presidential helicopter).

Or look at the non-hostile loss rates of US helicopters in Vietnam. Non-trivial.

My issue with the V-22 is that it's at least as unsafe as helicopters, but costs far more so you get fewer of them. Which means each loss bites harder. Now add all the other deficiencies, factor in the fact that fewer airframes means some missions simply don't get executed in high demand situations (serious combat tends to be high intensity), and note that some commanders will be less inclined to put them at risk due to cost and/or scarcity (which is because of cost).

So I don't think the old helicopter crashes are part of this story. But I have swung to the opinion over time that the V-22 is a ruinous strategic military decision.

[libtard]

Everybody knows every new airplane design kills.

The V-22 was actually one of the least deadly development process.