Why is it that the U.S. Dept of Defense is not using the V-22 Osprey to transport troops? In the wake of the 14 solilders killed in the Blackhawk crash in Iraq, why not change vehicles? With the time in the Army I have heard some really bad things with the Blackhawk, and the troops that work on these machines call them "CrashHawks". From what I read the Blackhawks have a far higher incident ratio than the V-22. Is it a time for a change?
This is not a dicussion about the war, we are already there and there is nothing you can do about it. Suck it up and move on, this is about why there is a delay in new technology availible and why we are not using it.
2007-08-22T05:48:13Z
So does the Blackhawk out perform the Huey? As far as I know the Huey was a very reliable aircraft, why not just upgrade the huey's? I know there are not as big but at least build off of the design of the huey.
The Stylish One2007-08-22T05:04:04Z
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The V-22 has its own set of problems that are just being straightened out. The reason the Army relies on the UH-60 Blackhawk so much is that its a versatile aircraft that can perform many missions like the UH-1 Huey it replaced. The V-22 is a new design that still has problems and is not as flexible as the UH-60.
Two other models the US should consider if they wanted to replaced the Blackhawk is the NH-90 and EH101, two European designs that have beat out the Blackhawk in recent helicopter sales to Australia and Canada. Another option is an evolution of the Blackhawk being built for the Canadian Naval forces.
there are not enough Ospreys, they are more expensive, there is built fleet of Blackhawks, and Osprey is dedicated for the Marines primarily. Armed forces can not shift their stuff like you shift your cars. These incidents recently are partly the combat attrition, partly HUMAN error, not solely mechanical failures. Finally, in the defence news I just read an biting story against the Osprey who is cited that "already killed 20 Marines". sad it was the combat evaluation and HUMAN error. Anyway it would take a lot of time and a lot of money before the Ospreys will be fully operational and permitted to complete low-importance missions like ferry flights etc. Osprey is just a specialized hi tech machine, it is not general replacement for the h-60 family.
the old huey is the 60ies aircraft... btw it is under upgrade development, delayed and probably about to be canceled - it is the huey 1 Yankee double engined version. The Huey derivates are serving elsewhere designated Bell 412, 212 Agusta-bell etc.
The Osprey "Tilt Rotor" system has not had all of the kinks worked out as of yet. For now it still remains a VERY dangerous transport vehicle. Before the wars came after 9/11 Ospreys were having a number of wrecks, but the media did not really care to focus on the military at the time. Now the media is all to anxious to report any crashed military craft. Overall the UH-60 is still a very reliable transport. Pretty much all transports have a bad nickname as well, just look at the CH-47 Chinook, also known as the "Sh*thook."
It's a question of reliability: the Blackhawk outscores the Osprey on all counts. I've been on the B-hawks for all our ops. It is adaptable in more ways than the Osprey. They are still tweaking the Osprey to perform as it's intended to still. Until then the Blackhawk rules the day.