Hybrid Aircraft With Questionable Safety Record To Serve Marines In Iraq

The New York Times LESLIE WAYNE April 14, 2007 09:45 AM

The Marine Corps said yesterday that the V-22 Osprey, a hybrid aircraft with a troubled past, will be sent to Iraq this September, where it will see combat for the first time.

But because of a checkered safety record in test flights, the V-22 will be kept on a short leash.
The Pentagon has placed so many restrictions on how it can be used in combat that the plane -- which is able to drop troops into battle like a helicopter and then speed away from danger like an airplane -- could have difficulty fulfilling the Marines' longstanding mission for it.

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