Another Undocumented MV-22 "Feature"

Usually I can see a US Strike Group deployment coming months away, but admittedly I didn't see this one coming. I sort of wonder if this is as scheduled as they imply, or if this is one of those undocumented transformational features of the MV-22, and the Wasp ESG pulled the short straw.

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.

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.

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?

This does highlight a major problem though. I still haven't had time to go into the Sea Base concept in great detail, but any evaluation of the Sea Base highlights the issue of transport and support of Marine aviation, particularly the MV-22s, and how the aviation problem is the bottleneck in the current Sea Base idea. If MV-22s can't independently deploy to forward theaters, the case is being made that Sea Based aviation is indeed a critical issue that goes beyond the limited scope of the operational needs of the Sea Base itself. At what point will the Navy begin looking into the Joint Aviation Support ships that have been advocated by both the Army and several NGOs?

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.