Miramar welcomes whisper-quiet Osprey
By
Jeanette Steele, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER Friday, December 18, 2009 at 5:35 p.m.
K.C. Alfred / Union-Tribune
Marines keep an eye on a new MV-22 Osprey, which was displayed during a news conference at MCAS Miramar on Friday.
The Marine Corps’ new helicopter-airplane combo, the MV-22 Osprey, has landed in San Diego. And to hear Marine officials tell the story, it did so with a whisper.
“If you are worried about noise, the MV-22 ought to be very welcome,” Osprey squadron commander Lt. Col. Evan LeBlanc said during a Friday news conference at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
An F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet roared by as LeBlanc stood on the flight line. “It’s not even close to that,” he said.
The Osprey is six times quieter than the helicopter it replaces, the dual-rotored CH-46, according to the Marine Corps.
Miramar has received one Osprey, the much-touted but also much-derided aircraft that takes off like a helicopter and flies like a plane. It could eventually get up to eight squadrons, while Camp Pendleton could get two. Both bases will need to build or renovate some hangars to accommodate the arrivals.
Ospreys were first sent to a war zone — Iraq — in September 2007. Now it’s also being used in Afghanistan, piloted by Marine squadrons from the East Coast.
Marine commanders tout the Osprey, which took nearly three decades to develop, as revolutionary. They credit its speediness with “shrinking” the battlefield in Iraq, its first real test. The aircraft also puts troops above the reach of ground rockets with its high-altitude flying.
But critics and skeptics continue to point out that Ospreys haven’t lived up to the military’s hype. The aircraft also has cost more than double the budgeted amount.
In a May report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office raised a list of concerns. The authors questioned the Marine Corps’ decision to stick to the MV-22 as its future prime method for transporting troops by air.
“Identified challenges could limit the ability to conduct worldwide operations,” the GAO report said. “Efforts are underway to address these deficiencies, but some are inherent in the MV-22’s design.”
The Osprey is marketed as a fast bird.
It’s rated for carrying 24 fully equipped Marines at a cruising speed of about 288 mph, compared with 155 mph for the CH-46.
But that advantage, and other features, have straind the Pentagon budget much more than expected. Initial estimates pegged the Osprey’s cost at $37.7 million each based on an order of 1,000 aircraft. Instead, the Pentagon is paying $93.4 million each for an overall order of 500.
In all, the Osprey has cost taxpayers $54.8 billion, including about $12.5 billion for research and development and roughly $42 billion for procurement.
There’s been another cost: lives. Four Osprey crashes — all during test flights — have killed 30 people.
President George W. Bush proposed ending the MV-22 program in 1989 and continued to seek cancellation through 1992. Congress rejected these proposals, mostly because of the Marine Corps’ strong support of the aircraft.
Miramar pilots who have flown the Osprey give it high marks.
“I feel perfectly comfortable in this aircraft,” said LeBlanc, who flew the Osprey on raiding missions in Iraq. “I wouldn’t fly it if I didn’t think it was safe.”
His squadron’s pilots and crews are undergoing Osprey training. They won’t be certified as combat-ready for up to two years, LeBlanc said.