Approx 448 of these versatile craft will serve with the US forces, although originally they wanted over 900. Battle damage tolerance is built into the aircraft via composite construction, and separated flight control, electrical, and hydraulic systems.
The Osprey is one of the defense department's larger clusterfucks.
ReplyDeleteIt can't autorotate.
It can't fly on one engine.
It has only forward-facing armament
(there is a manually operated machine gun near the rear door that can't be used unless the loading ramp is fully open).
It has an extremely poor safety record.
It is very expensive.
It has proven to be fragile even in non-combat use.
ie, it sucks, and will kill even more of our troops in combat.