The Marine Corps is about to deploy a squadron of Bell-Boeing MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft aboard an amphibious assault ship. The pending departure of the USS Bataan (LHD 5) will mark the first time that an Osprey squadron has "gone to sea" for operations with a Marine assault unit.

A sister ship of the Bataan, the USS Wasp (LHD 1), had embarked ten Ospreys of Marine Medium Tilt-Rotor Squadron (VMM) 263 in September 2007 to transport the tilt-rotor aircraft to Iraq. They have operated successfully in that conflict, with other squadrons rotating into the county to fly the transport aircraft. (These aircraft were transported by ship rather than being flown to Iraq because of concerns about icing during the North Atlantic portion of the trip, lack of Marine KC-130 tankers for mid-air refueling, and the desire to reduce flight hours on the aircraft.)

Operating primarily in western Iraq's Anbar province, the Osprey activities are credited with being highly successful. They are used principally for routine cargo and troop movements, and also for riskier "aero-scout" missions. General David Petraeus, then the senior U.S. military commander in Iraq, used one to fly around Iraq on Christmas Day 2007 to visit troops, and then-presidential candidate Barack Obama also flew in Ospreys during his high-profile 2008 tour of Iraq.

Discussions are underway with regard to the Marines also operating them in Afghanistan as U.S. military forces in that conflict area are increased.

For her coming forward deployment to the Middle East-Indian Ocean area the Bataan will embark the ten Ospreys of (again) VMM-263. The tilt-rotor aircraft will provide increased flexibility over the CH-46E Sea Knight and CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters that are normally deployed in LHA/LHD amphibious ships. The Osprey provides greater range, lift capacity, and speed compared to the helicopters. And, the Osprey can be refueled in flight.

The Bataan will also embark CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters as well as SeaCobra gunships and Huey utility helicopters. Normally these ships also have a detachment of AV-8B Harrier STOVL attack aircraft on board. It is not clear if the Bataan will carry those aircraft.

The Bataan's deployment follows a highly successful deployment of four Air Force CV-22 model Ospreys to North Africa in November 2008 for a multi-national exercise. Based at Hurlburt Field, Florida, those aircraft -- configured for special operations -- were flown overseas with in-flight refuelings. Dubbed Operation Flintlock, the 15-nation exercise in the trans-Sahara region was conducted without any significant problems with the Osprey. 

The CV-22s -- from the Air Force's 8th Special Operations Squadron -- flew the 6,000-plus statute miles from Florida to Mali with several stops and with in-flight refuelings from Air Force MC-130 Hercules aircraft.

(Ironically, in 2007 several Air Force CV-22s conducted operations from the Bataan.)

Meanwhile, procurement of the Ospreys is continuing. The current Marine procurement goal is 458 MV-22 aircraft and the Air Force is acquiring 50 CV-22s for special operations (replacing the MH-53J Pave Low helicopter). Interestingly, the V-22 prefixes are erroneous as, according to Department of Defense guidance, the "M" should indicate multipurpose -- and is suitable for the Air Force special operations mission -- while the "C" prefix indicates cargo/transport, more suitable for the Marine's Osprey missions.

Beyond the current special features fitted in the Air Force CV-22 aircraft, the service's Special Operations Command is installing a 7.62-mm multi-barrel (Gatling) gun turret in seven CV-22s this year. The Air Force had decided not to install a forward-firing gun on the Osprey at the beginning of its two-decade-long development to cut costs. Instead, a ramp-mounted, hand-fired .50-caliber machine gun was installed in some aircraft.

In 2007, the Defense Department awarded a contract to BAE Systems to produce seven Remote Guardian Systems and install them in CV-22s to provide all-quadrant fire. This interim, 7.62-mm gun system is fired by the CV-22 flight engineer using what resembles a PlayStation controller while viewing targets on a screen that is fed images from the aircraft's color camera and forward-looking infrared sensor. Having the screen in the cargo/passenger compartment will also help troops being carried to obtain a better view of the situation on the ground as the Osprey approaches its landing zone.

Additional gun systems will undoubtedly be acquired for the Air Force. And, when the system is fully qualified, the Marine Corps will probably acquire it or a similar gun system for some if not all MV-22s.

Thus, the Osprey program -- initiated in 1981 as the JVX aircraft program -- appears to be on course and now on schedule. Despite several crashes and efforts by various administrations to kill the program, Congress and the Marine Corps persevered. Several other nations have now expressed interest in the V-22.