Ospreys Continue Success Story In Afghanistan
(June 21, 2011) |
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| CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan (MCN - 6/16/2011) — The Marine
Corps' MV-22B Osprey is the world's first production
military tiltrotor aircraft. Since the inception of its
concept in the early 1980s, the Osprey has seen many trials
and tribulations. Unsuccessful prototypes took Marines'
lives, while negative press slammed the project for being
too expensive. |
Camp Bastion, Afghanistan-Sgt Jacob Carson takes a break from maintaining an MV-22B Osprey at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, June 16,
2011. Carson is a flightline mechanic with VMM-264
based out of Marine Corps Air Station New River,
N.C. In 2007, the Osprey began replacing the CH-46
Sea Knight, which had been in service since 1962,
with providing assault support and transport for the
Marine Corps.
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Despite these hurdles, the current iteration of the Osprey
is alive and well, operating daily from U.S. Naval vessels
and supporting coalition troops in the mountains and deserts
of Afghanistan.
In 2007, the Osprey began replacing
the CH-46E Sea Knight, which had been in service since 1962,
with providing assault support and transport for the Marine
Corps. For veteran pilots, like Marine Medium Tiltrotor
Squadron 264 executive officer Maj. Steve Turner who has
piloted both platforms, the Osprey is a clear improvement.
“Everything that has always been advertised about the
Osprey in terms of replacing the last medium-lift platform,
the CH-46, is true,” said Turner. “With the Osprey we are
able to increase the air speed almost three-fold, double our
transportable payload, and fly at much higher altitudes
keeping us out of the reach of the enemy's weapons
envelope.”
Turner's squadron is currently deployed to
southwestern Afghanistan, from Marine Corps Air Station New
River, N.C. From Camp Bastion, the tiltrotor squadron
supports Marines and their NATO International Security
Assistance Force partners operating in Helmand and Nimroz
provinces.
Turner said the Osprey's ability to take
off and land vertically like a helicopter, and then cruise
at more than 250 miles per hour, makes it a prime candidate
for conducting troop inserts and combat resupplies in
unsecured landing zones in Afghanistan. This mix of fixed
and rotary wing capabilities is something Turner said is
“the best of both worlds.”
“The big advantage with
the Osprey is we can go from one runway to another runway,
or from a runway to any landing zone in our area of
operations faster than the other assault support squadrons
we have here,” said Maj. Doug Thumm, the assistant
operations officer at VMM-264. “The rate we cruise at allows
us to move to just about any point in Helmand province in
about 40 minutes.”
Marines who work daily with the
Osprey said the replacement parts can be harder to come by
than for more seasoned aircraft and that mechanics haven't
yet accrued the decades of mechanical experience to learn
tricks of the trade that cut down on maintenance man-hours.
Additionally, the Osprey squadron's Marines, from pilots
to maintainers, said the biggest challenges they have faced
with the Osprey are similar to those faced by other aircraft
operating in Afghanistan's intense heat, dust and altitude.
“I think the biggest challenge we have right now is
what we call the high, hot and heavy,” said Thumm. “The
temperature goes up and increases the density altitude
diminishing the aircraft's ability to achieve lift, but that
is something that affected the CH-46 as well.”
And
Turner, who flew the Sea Knight during Operation Iraqi
Freedom, said he feels the Osprey is a worthy successor to
the CH-46.
“I would much rather fly the MV-22 in this
theater any day than go back to a legacy platform like the
CH-46,” said Turner. “Both were good aircraft to fly, but
you have to progress at some point. “
The Osprey
being a platform with a lot of potential is a sentiment
echoed by newcomers to the medium-lift community, veterans
who cut their teeth on the CH-46, and Marines on the ground
who benefit most from the Osprey's unique versatility.
“It is phenomenal what we are able to do with cargo and
passengers in the Osprey,” said Staff Sgt. Joel Giuliano,
the flightline division chief for VMM-264. “It would take us
five to seven hours to carry out the same mission in a
CH-46. With the speed of the MV-22 we are cutting that time
almost in half.” |
Article and photo by USMC Cpl. Rashaun X. James
2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Fwd)
Copyright 2011 | |
Reprinted from
Marine Corps News
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