To call Bell-Boeing's tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey a controversial military acquisition would be an enormous understatement. Yet the press corps, long dubious of the aircraft's capabilities and survivability, seemed to hold its collective tongue during yesterday's briefing at the Boeing chalet--there were no questions asked about the aircraft's reliability, instead the focus was on the Osprey's upcoming deployment to Iraq. In September, the Marine Corps's VMM-263 squadron will deploy with ten Ospreys to Al-Asad Air Base in Anbar province.

The V-22 did not appear at Le Bourget, an absence that
was explained by the need for all available aircraft and
crews to focus on training for potential deployment.

Whether or not the program has the full support of defense analysts and U.S. Marines has become a non-issue in the face of the Marine Corps's unwavering commitment to keep the program moving forward. Though this obstinacy may have deterred the press from asking hard-hitting questions, our colleagues have not lost their penchant for sarcasm and cynicism--one lamented the "obligatory" coverage of the Osprey only hours before squeezing into Boeing's packed media room with 60 or so fellow journalists.

The Marine Corps's V-22 program director, Colonel Matthew Mulhern, must have been equally surprised by the softballs being lobbed at him. The press asked nothing about the reported instability the Osprey experiences when it tilts its rotors. There was no reference to a potentially fatal fluid mechanics defect known as Vortex Ring State, which some experts maintain still poses a serious threat to the Osprey, and there was no follow-up when the colonel said they're "still looking at ideas" for providing defensive fire in all directions--a huge issue for a platform expected to be in the thick of it just three months from now and with nothing more than a single M240 machine gun mounted on the tail ramp for self-defense.

On the plus side, Colonel Mulhern was frank about his expectations for the Osprey on deployment. His honesty and confidence were reassuring. He warned of the danger of taking enemy fire, and the high probability the Marines "are gonna lose some" of the birds as a result. He cited the unavoidable effects of incessant sand wearing on engines and rotors, which is his primary fear for the success of the deployment. He didn't obscure the fact that only as a result of this maiden combat deployment will the true tactical capabilities of the "multi-mission" Osprey become clear. And he said that even as an F/A-18 pilot who knows the meaning of speed, the Osprey offers an impressive acceleration and the real ability to surprise an enemy that's likely to spot the bird only after it's too late.

Some of my buddies who may actually be flying into combat on the Osprey within the next year will wait and see what happens before passing judgment--though they admit they wouldn't volunteer for the first combat op. This mindset seems reasonable. Nobody really knows how the Osprey will perform and whether it truly demonstrates a new capability deserving of the lives that have already been lost over the course of the program. The colonel's requirement for calling the program a success is the first wounded Marine airlifted faster and further in the back of an Osprey to receive vital medical treatment saving life or limb. Perhaps the subdued journalists yesterday were similarly holding their breath.