Originally Posted by
LivingInMEM
On the USAF side, it's a replacement for the MH-53 - or at least, they got rid of the MH-53's as the CV-22's came on board.
The guys who AFSOC used to support with the MH-53 are not so enthusiastic about the CV-22, they gave up a lot of capabilities (drive on ability, fast-rope, the ability to see the aircraft from the edge of a dusty/sandy LZ due to the lack of a dust storm, etc).
Yeah - I knew the USAF was going to use the aircraft as part of AFSOC - I just didn't know what their specific plans were. If I remember right - the MH-53 are two-engined varients (like the CH-53Ds).
I don't remember all of the pros/cons of the aricraft - it has been since 2002 since I paid much attention; but that article I linked has a picture of Marines fast-roping out of the Osprey. Have they found out since that you can't fast-rope? One of my former squadronmate was a firm opponent of the aircraft.
There is no doubt that that tilt-rotor technology is still in the early stage of learing how to use it effectively. It is radical and I'm sure there will be MANY more trials and tribulations to come before we can hopefully look back over the past 20+ years and see where we came from and what benefit has been achieved.
USMCFLYR