
Actually, I'm starting to wonder if this is a real ESG deployment at all or just some ferry mission to the Gulf.
The MV-22 squadron heading out for the Osprey’s first combat deployment next month will get to Iraq the old-fashioned way — the Navy.So the phrase goes something like "twice as fast," "three times as much cargo," and "five times as far" and yet it needs a taxi to get to and from the front line. I wonder how much more this would add to the total cost of ownership?
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 will sail aboard the amphibious assault ship Wasp, a II Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
“It’ll save wear and tear on the airplane,” Lt. Col. Curtis Hill said. “This will also allow time to do shipboard integration operations. That will help us down the road as we look to integrate them with the [Marine expeditionary units].”
“The method for returning them has not yet been decided,” Hill said.
The Norfolk, Va.-based Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group is readying for a routine deployment, said Lt. Cmdr. Herb Josey, a Naval Surface Force Atlantic spokesman.
It’s unknown if the Osprey squadron will return with the Wasp. “The method for returning them has not yet been decided,” Hill said.
Is it time for the Maersk S-Class Conversion Concept? Maybe, but it might be cost prohibitive, although it is hard to argue that it wouldn't fix the specific Sea Base issues in supporting Joint Aviation, not to mention allow the USMC to deploy MV-22s to Iraq without having to ferry the unit on an Expeditionary Strike Group.
This really is pathetic. Someone should add the cost of redesigning LHDs to support the MV-22 and the cost of ferrying MV-22s to the theater of war to the cost of the MV-22, because these support costs required for the MV-22 platform to do its thing are not trivial.
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