the V22 was never intended or designed to perform the 53 series missions.
That is a patently false statement....we hashed that out way back in this thread....and many quotes from official documents proved the MV-22 was to replace both the CH-46 and CH-53D airframes and off course their mission sets.
Must we go back over plowed ground on this one?
Sans....if you doubt us....take a few minutes and go back through the thread and you shall (that is the imperative tense) see this is very much the truth.
Granted the situation gets a bit muddled as the USMC has called back mothballed D Model airframes from AMARC and pulled them from the Reserves and other units (HMX-1) even to meet operational requirements.
But that was long after the sales pitch to Congress and the rest of the Guvmint on why they needed the numbers of 22's they were asking for.