Hero V-22 crew recalls near-death recon mission | Military Times | militarytimes.com
I recall some hot discussion about new tactics....going where the bad guys aren't....and how the V-22 was immune from Hot LZ's....used darkness, speed, and altitude and all that to eliminate that threat. I also remember saying all that sounded good but when it does not go according to plan....which usually happens upon the first contact with the bad guys....having all around coverage with door guns and not just a single ramp gun....would prove to be very beneficial.
So here we have a Tactical Plan that had two Ospreys making two landings into an LZ....two sorties each in order to land the Infantry.....with Aerial Gun Cover...at Night....and by golly on the second landings....the **** hit the Fan!
Gone was surprise, gone was unpredictability, and now you had troops on the ground, some in the Wingman's aircraft orbiting the LZ that was occupied by the Flight Lead who did not hear the Wave Off Call....and the bad guys shooting up Flight Lead and everybody else within range.
Congratulations to the Crews involved.....they handled a bad situation in an admirable manner. That is what matters when it all turns into the legendary bucket of worms.
The Gunner's comment about pouring down lead from the single ramp gun....which was probably a single M-240.....I hate to tell him but that was only Psych Warfare.....it made him feel better but did little to harm the bad guys.
In my day we could accomplished the same with two or three M-60 Machine guns....which still lacked any real effect as compared to 7.62 Mini-guns.