Congratulations FH, you have managed to convince everybody on this thread except one that you do not have a clue as has been demonstrated over and over by you on this thread in the past. But keep dribbling the unsubstantiated nonsense and even that last person will finally realize you are a space cadet (that last person is of course you…). Read through what you wrote and give yourself a good slap on the back of your head for embarrassing yourself.
FH1100 said:
Three angry naked black kids with spears and good aim could've ended the whole mission. Maybe only two. -- One of those 2,000 kiddie warriors...sorry, "armed youths" might throw a rock…
Your obvious prejudice and continued assertion that the actual threat on the ground that the Ospreys encountered was minimal is based on your imagination, not fact. Try doing a little research before flowing at the mouth with falsehoods derived from your lack of knowledge. Although those on the ground do not compare to a western military force by any means, they are armed well enough to have defeated the country’s army and taken control of the town (they include former soldiers that have defected to the opposition). At this moment the South Sudan Army is in a battle to take it back. The arms supplied to the rebels are apparently being funded by the Sudanese government in Khartoum.
A barrage of ”small arms” fire (AK-47s,mortars, etc.) at close range can stop either tiltrotors or helicopters from accomplishing their mission as anybody even remotely familiar with military operations would know.
South Sudanese rebels have taken over a key town, the military has said, as fighting continues after Sunday's reported coup attempt, BBC reports.
Rebels take South Sudan town Bor after 'coup attempt'
In this case all three aircraft took the hits and made it out with the ability to fly 500nm so the injured could be treated. This is to the credit of the crews and the aircraft. It was not a weakness in the aircraft that the mission had to be aborted, the primary reason was the fact that the bullets were tearing through human flesh just as would have been the case if helicopters were in the same hot LZ. It has always been agreed by members participating on this thread that both type aircraft will be equally vulnerable when faced with this situation. From that perspective it does not matter whether it was due to bad intel, bad planning, or bad luck that put them in harms way as either tiltrotors or helicopters can find themselves in the same situation. The crew members and aircraft could not have performed more admirably under the circumstances and anyone who says otherwise will prove their ignorance.
As others have said here, with the Osprey's proven track record they will be going back out there on the ‘pointy end of the spear,’ along with other proven helicopters and airplanes. Get used to it!!!
Merry Christmas