Originally Posted by Shawn Coyle
So, while the V-22 isn't perfect, it's a necessary step on the way to getting something much better.
Carry on Marines.
Why should the US taxpayer (that would be me, etc.) have to fund this enormously expensive aircraft just to get to something better? Why can't we skip this step. modernize (or build new!) the models that are already in the fleet, and continue R&D on a suitable replacement?
I am not looking forward to the first time the Osprey descends onto a field, under heavy fire, trying to unload troops. Or maybe it will be the second time, or the twentieth... But sooner or later someone's not going to be paying attention and is going to do the same thing that the experimental one did (asymmetrical VRS if I'm not mistaken), or something similar. It will cost a bunch of lives and a bunch of money.
At any rate my point is that I can't see how this is a necessary step.
dave