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Osprey's debut in combat zone has rocky start
The controversial V-22 Osprey has arrived in a combat zone for the first time. It was an epic trip for the innovative $20 billion tilt-rotor plane, which took more than 25 years to develop, a process that included several fatal crashes. Even the last short hop -- from an amphibious assault ship into Iraq -- went awry, U.S. military officials said Monday.A malfunction forced one of the 10 Ospreys deployed to Iraq to land in Jordan on Thursday. The Marines flew parts to it from Iraq and repaired it. After it took off again Saturday, the problem recurred, and it had to turn back and land in Jordan again, said Maj. Jeff Pool, a U.S. military spokesman in western Iraq. It finally arrived at al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq late Sunday afternoon. Maj. Eric Dent, an Osprey spokesman at Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, declined to identify the problem. Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-10-12 |
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