Yeah, the Osprey isn't going anywhere because it's currently grounded, along with the Navy/Marine Corps' fleet of MH-53 Super Stallions.
quote:
Marine aircraft grounding raise questions about readiness
August 28, 2000
By ROBERT BURNS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The decision to ground temporarily hundreds of Marine Corps aircraft, including the aging workhorse CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter fleet and the new MV-22 Osprey, raises tough questions about the condition and direction of Marine Corps aviation, defense analysts said Monday.
The groundings announced by the Marines on Sunday affect 413 aircraft, and are in addition to the 76 Harrier fighter jets that have yet to return to operation following a July 11 grounding, officials said.
It is highly unusual for the Marines to have such a wide variety of aircraft taken out of operation, albeit for unrelated reasons.
"Is it coincidence?" asked Andrew Krepinevich, executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. "Or are these little red flags popping up that might indicate that Marine Corps aviation is moving toward the ragged edge of readiness?"
Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the private Lexington Institute, said it is no coincidence that the Marines are encountering mechanical problems with the Super Stallion, which entered service in 1981 and the AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters, which are of a similar vintage and are derived from 1960s technology.
"They're just too old," Thompson said. He said those aircraft are in "an advanced state of decrepitude."
"There's no debate that they've got to replace these aging aircraft before they kill more Marines," Thompson said.
This setback for the Marines comes amid heated debate in the presidential campaign over whether the military has been spread too thin and starved of resources during the Clinton administration.
Defense Secretary William Cohen insists the military is more capable today than at any time in American history, while Dick Cheney, who served as defense secretary during the Bush administration and is now the Republican vice presidential nominee, asserted Sunday that "the military is in trouble today" -- not just in keeping ready for combat but also in retaining troops and finding sufficient numbers of recruits.
Bernard Trainor, a retired Marine Corps brigadier general, said in an interview Monday that it is too early to assume that Marine Corps aviation is in trouble. "I'd be more inclined to say it's a coincidence," that three types of aircraft were grounded on the same day, Trainor said.
The Marines are not alone in facing aviation challenges. The Army disclosed in April that 40 percent of its helicopters could not be counted on to perform their wartime missions, and it cited a "dramatic decline" in Army aviator experience and skill over the past decade.
The Marine Corps said the latest groundings are unlikely to have a major impact on deployed forces, since only eight of the 198 Cobra helicopters and eight of the 165 Super Stallions are currently deployed abroad. None of the 11 new Osprey aircraft are part of the regular Marine aviation fleet, since they just completed an evaluation period and a decision to enter full-rate production has not yet been made.
The most significant grounding, the Marines said in their announcement Sunday, is the CH-53E Super Stallion, which is a heavy-lift helicopter used mainly move supplies. It also has a role as troop transport.
The decision to ground all 165 Super Stallions was based on the preliminary findings of an investigation into the cause of an Aug. 10 crash of a Navy MH-53E mine-sweeping helicopter, which is a variant of the Marine's Super Stallion. The Navy crash, off the coast of Corpus Christi, killed four of the six-man crew.
The Navy said Monday that it is grounding all 40 of its MH-53E helicopters.
The Marines are pursuing a program of aviation modernization that includes development of a "Z" variant of the Cobra attack helicopter and a "Y" variant of the Huey utility helicopter. It is developing the MV-22 Osprey to replace the aging fleet of CH-46 troop transport helicopters as well as Super Stallions.
It also is banking on the Joint Strike Fighter, a new warplane intended for use by the Air Force, the Navy and the Marines, to replace the AV-8B Harrier, a short take-off and vertical landing jet that is wearing out. The Joint Strike Fighter -- not yet in production -- is projected to enter the force in 2010.
Later fellas.