On the recordMay 17, 2012
I have before me an article from defense.aol.com from just a few months ago which was written by Richard Whittle, who wrote a whole book on the V 22. And as the editor says, this is as close to ground truth on the V 22 as one can get. What he says is the marines and the Air Force Special Operations Command have been flying it in combat zones for 4 years, and they love it. He goes on to talk about problems in the early years, but the critics went to sleep in the middle of the story. In other words, they have not recognized the significant improvements that several people have talked about. Since October 1, 2001, the military has lost 405 helicopters, 99 percent of them have not been V 22s; and yet this amendment comes only against the V 22 when it turns out the redesigned, re-tested Osprey safety record is the safest rotorcraft the Marine Corps flies based on mishaps per 100,000 flight hours. When it comes to cost, since 2008 they are under budget and are actually going to save the taxpayers over $200 million versus what was budgeted. This plane is working well. This amendment is behind the times.
