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).
Don't forget the ability to put a Toyota pickup (In my 11 years SOF experience we carried many of those)...more than 1 ATV in it....team members loaded COMFORTABLY..oh and then the other issues of not enough O2 regulators for additional crewmembers (ie students for training missions), etc.
Yes they can land and the airfield siezure teams can WALK off of it...but they will only have their FEET once they are on the ground. As my buddy puts it - "It's a silver bullet"