Experts blast Osprey buggy

Critics say design trade-offs impair troop-mover, cost adds up to 'profiteering'

To get firepower into battle, the Marines will soon start using the V-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft that costs $110 million each, as an aerial taxi for troops.

The futuristic craft will also transport a vehicle that looks a lot like a Vietnam-era jeep. But this model, a modified dune buggy, costs $127,000 each and doesn't have armor. Some experts worry that it is vulnerable to attack, too slow and too prone to rolling over, making it dangerous in combat.

"It's crappy," said Ralph Bicknell, a retired Marine and automotive engineer from West Olive, Mich., who designed a vehicle and mortar system but didn't bid on the project.

The shortcomings of the new vehicle, called the Growler, are just the latest problem for the Osprey. The military has worked for two decades to develop the aircraft, but four crashes and a host of design and safety concerns have kept the planes out of action.

Recently the Pentagon said most of the Osprey's problems have been fixed and gave the thumbs up for full production. The military wants to spend $50.5 billion on 454 Ospreys and plans to deploy them in 2007.

The Marine Corps plans to spend $300 million for a fleet of mortars and the Growlers to tow them and carry troops.

The Army and Marines typically use Humvees for these types of missions. But the Humvee won't work with the Osprey because of the V-22's narrow cabin and limited lifting power. The Osprey flies as both helicopter and airplane, a feature with a trade-off: It flies much faster than a helicopter with the same weight and horsepower, the CH53E Sea Stallion; but it can carry only half the weight. The Sea Stallions cost $22 million each in 1994, when they were last built.

The Growler was chosen because it fits into the Osprey's cabin. It will take two Ospreys to fly in one mortar with 30 rounds of ammunition and six Marines to operate the system. One Sea Stallion could handle the same load, though slower.

The logistics don't make much sense, according to Bill Cowan, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and counterterrorism expert who served three combat tours in Vietnam.

"This is just nuts," said Cowan, now a defense consultant who lives in northern Virginia. "This is no way to bring firepower to the troops who need it."

The Marines plan for Ospreys to take off from Navy ships and fly 100 miles or more inland. The vehicle-toting planes would fly in pairs, one taking three Marines and a Growler with a mortar and the second Osprey taking three Marines and a second Growler that would tow a trailer with 30 rounds.

The mortars, which look like upright cannons, fire shells in high arcs over short ranges, up to 7 miles. Additional Ospreys would transport up to 24 Marines each.

The Marines say the system, built by General Dynamics and a smaller company called American Growler, will fill a crucial gap in short-range firepower as they move troops from ship to shore. Marines now carry smaller mortars on their shoulders or in Humvees.

The Marines also say that concerns about the Growler's performance are based on incorrect or outdated information.

"These concerns have been addressed by the continued development and improvement of the vehicle," program manager John Garner said in a written statement. "Marines ... and automotive testers and experts who have seen, ridden in or driven the current version of the vehicle and participated in testing have been very positive."

The contract has been awarded, but the design of the system is not final: Congress recently appropriated $11 million to the winning bidder for research and development.