Marine Corps News, news from Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Osprey ready for Iraq, officer tells lawmakers

The newly minted MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft is ready for its first deployment in Iraq, a top Marine officer told House lawmakers Tuesday.

Questions regarding whether or not the aircraft is ready for its debut on the Iraqi battlefield, slated this fall, emerged during a House Appropriations Defense subcommittee meeting. Lawmakers openly questioned the effect the Iraqi desert environment, which has proved harsh on just about all military aircraft, would have on the MV-22.

“The decision to deploy to Iraq this fall is a very deliberate one,” said Lt. Gen. Emerson Gardner, deputy commandant of Marine Corps Programs and Resources. “The commandant is confident that the airplane is operationally ready to go, that those factors that would limit its operational effectiveness have been fixed.”

Of top concern for Rep. Norman Dicks, D-Wash., was whether or not the MV-22’s reliability issues, such as such as passenger cabin cooling problems and an overheating drive train gear box in hot weather, had been resolved.

“We have resolved those and everything about the aircraft is functioning as planned,” said Delores Etter, assistant secretary of the Navy and the service’s top research, development and acquisition official. “This is a very reliable aircraft.”

“The operating desert environment is challenging with the dust and the heat,” Gardner said. “We have been testing and evaluating the aircraft in just those circumstances.”

The Corps, however, is planning ahead for maintenance concerns on the ground in Anbar province, where the first MV-22 squadron will begin operating this fall. “We have an extensive reliability and parts plan in place to ensure the aircraft is operationally ready and will be effective on the ground,” Gardner said.

There will be a mix of aircraft on the ground for the first deployment, Gardner explained. The initial deployment will have 10 MV-22s per squadron, to eventually be increased to 12 aircraft per unit, he added.

The aircraft will prove itself on the battlefield, showing that its range and speed will be able to lift medical evacuations directly from the scene directly to combat hospitals, he said. “It’s going to save lives and is much more capable than the [CH-46],” he said.