NEWS TRANSCRIPTS from the United States Department of Defense

Presenter: Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James Conway and Deputy
Commandant for Aviation Lt. Gen. John Castellaw April 13, 2007 11:00 AM
EDT
DoD News Briefing with Gen. Conway from the Pentagon

GEN. CONWAY:Good morning.I'd like to thank you all for taking time to
share
in what is truly a historic day for your Marine Corps.It's my pleasure
to
announce that the Marines VMM-263, the world's first tiltrotor squadron,
will also be the first to take the MV-22 Osprey into combat.These
hardworking professionals in a remarkable aircraft will deploy to al
Asad,
Iraq in September of this year.This deployment directly supports our
Corps
number one priority:the Marines and sailors in contact at the tip of the
spear.

The story of how we got here as been a long one, and I'll leave it to
you
to recount that history.I'll just say that the quantum leap in
technology
that this aircraft will bring to the fight has been a road marked by
some
setbacks, lots of sacrifices and the success of these Marines standing
before you today.

This is a great day for our Corps and for my aviation folks, in
particular.Before I turn the program over to our deputy commandant for
Aviation, Lieutenant General John Castellaw, I ask that as you make your
way
down to Quantico today aboard those CH-46s outside, that you make some
mental notes so that you can compare and contrast our oldest rotor wing
platform to its replacement, the Osprey.You'll soon see why we're so
excited
about the V-22.

Thank you, folks.Enjoy your flights today.

GEN. CASTELLAW:As the commandant indicated, we'll be deploying VMM-263,
the
first tactical tiltrotor squadron, combat squadron to Iraq in September
of
this year.We've gone through a very deliberate process to ensure that
operationally, logistically that the squadron and the aircraft is ready
to
deploy.It's been through extensive operational testing and evaluation,
and
it is our fervent feeling that this aircraft is the most capable,
survivable
aircraft that we carry our most important weapons system in, which is
the
Marine riflemen, and that we will successfully introduce this aircraft
in
combat.

With that, I'm ready to take any question that you might ask.

Rick.

Q General Castellaw, what difference exactly do you think the V-22 will
make in Iraq?I mean, could you describe some of the missions it might
fly
and how it'll change them?

GEN. CASTELLAW:First of all, you know, the primary troop assault
aircraft
now is the CH-46.It 's almost 40 years old.It was introduced in the
middle of
Vietnam.The aircraft is old in the tooth, and its capability in terms of
range and payload is not what we want.So we have been developing the
V-22 as
its replacement, again, to survive in a combat environment.This aircraft
from the very beginning, from the time we put the first piece on the
deck,
was held to stringent combat characteristics and requirements.

So what we have is an aircraft that goes twice as fast.It goes three
times
as far, and it is the most survivable, about six or seven times of what
the
aircraft that it replaces is.On a mission, it can be at 200-plus knots
in 15
seconds climbing the altitude.Fixed-wing use altitude as an area to get
outside of the range of missiles and fire -- small-arms fire.We'll be
able
to do the same thing with this aircraft to get above the threat.

Yes, ma'am.

Q Can you talk a little bit about the threat over there?How many CH-46s
have been lost in enemy action or down for maintenance?And are you doing
a
one-for-one replacement of CH-46s with the MV-22 -- (off mike).

GEN. CASTELLAW:We have had seven aircraft that have been destroyed in
combat operations.We've had others that have been damaged, but seven
have
been destroyed.

The V-22 will be able to, again, fly above the threat.It also has all
the
survivability equipment that's required.It has missile warning systems,
it
has self-defense weapons, it has radar warning systems, it has ability
to
expend flares.The IR on the engine is suppressed, and then, combine that
with tactics and techniques and procedures that we're able to accomplish
with the capabilities of this aircraft, make it a survivability that we
have
to have.

Yes, sir.

Q You said it was six or seven times more survivable.I was wondering
what
metric you used, comparison of survivability with this and the CH-46s.

GEN. CASTELLAW:It's a combination of metrics.First of all, our
signature is
lower.The acoustic signature is lower.It flies faster and it flies
higher.And then if it were to be hit, it was designed from the beginning
to
absorb hits from weapons.So all this comes together to give it its
survivability quotient.

Yes, sir.

Q Some skeptics of this aircraft have said that its main vulnerability
is
when it comes into the landing zone, it doesn't have the maneuverability
that a helicopter has.Could you address that question?That's said to be
its
main weakness.

GEN. CASTELLAW:I fly the V-22, and I have taken it and used it in a
tactical manner, how we would employ it.We can come out and descend at
6,000
feet-per-minute in fixed-wing mode.We can skim along the ground at 240
knots.And then within a fairly short distance from the landing zone
where
we're going to insert the troops or extract them, then we start the
transition to the helicopter mode.

The aircraft, once in helicopter mode, is powerful and agile.It is at
least
as good getting in the zone and I think better, again from personal
experience, than the 46 is.So the ability to maneuver this aircraft is
far
in excess of what we have with the existing helicopters.

Yes, sir.

Q (Name inaudible) -- McClatchy newspapers.

Could you describe the missions that it will be performing over there?

GEN. CASTELLAW:The V-22 is a medium-assault tiltrotor.What it's primary
mission is to take Marines into combat.It has the capability to carry 24
personnel, combat-loaded Marines.Externally, it can lift 10,000
pounds.Internally, you can trade off gas or whatever in order not to
exceed
the max gross weight, but you can put up to 20,000 pounds inside the
aircraft.So it will carry packs, cargo.It will do also 12 litters in
terms
of evacuations, medically if required.So it is a real utilitarian
aircraft
that we will use for a variety of individual missions that are under the
overall helicopter assault, tiltrotor type.

Yes, sir?

Q Sir, what does the aircraft require in terms of maintenance, as
opposed
to the 46 or the 53, I mean ground time as opposed to flying time.

GEN. CASTELLAW:Right now we're still in the process of collecting that
data.In terms of flight operations, right now it's between some of the
less
sophisticated aircraft and the 53.The 53 right now takes about 40 man
hours
to every flight hour.The V-22 initial data we have, it's a fraction of
that.

Yes, sir?

Q What will be the self-defense weapons that you'll put on these in
Iraq?

GEN. CASTELLAW:First of all, it has missile warning systems on the
aircraft
to identify MANPADS missiles.It also has systems that identify lasers as
well as radars.In terms of other self-defense systems, it has a gun
that's
mounted on it.And like we do with all our other aircraft, we'll fly in
formation.When we fly, the tactics are such that you cover each other
when
you fly in a zone.Also, we routinely provide additional assets, such as
attack helicopters and fixed wing to provide additional support and
suppression, should that be required.

Yes, sir?

Q Can you give us a sense of what protections the chopper has to avoid
--
or at least warn the pilots when they get into a vortex ring state --
the
cause of the April 2000 flight -- the -- (inaudible) -- that killed 20
Marines.What's the improvement, for those who haven't followed this?

GEN. CASTELLAW:Well, the first thing is -- and by the way, when you're
in a
helicopter mode, you get the same restrictions that I have when I fly a
46.This situation is caused by descending at a low air speed at a high
rate
of descent when under a lot of power.You don't want to do that in a
helicopter and you do not want to do that in a tiltrotor.And we don't
have
to do it in a tiltrotor.I told you originally that one of the tactics in
coming into the zone was come down at 6,000 feet per minute rate of
descent.And we do that in the fixed-wing mode.We do not intend to
routinely
use this aircraft and come out of a high altitude in the helicopter
mode.

So we will come out at 240 knots, you know, up to 6,000 feet per minute
rate of descent, get down to 200 feet and approach the zone and then do
the
transition to the helicopter mode.And with that, we will avoid --
rightly
so, because that's a better tactic to use in combat -- being in that
position.

If we were, for whatever reason, to be in a helicopter mode and want to
come down at a slow rate of descent and at low air speed, then the
aircraft
has a better capability of flying out of that state than a helicopter
does.All you have to do is move the nacelles about 15 degrees, and what
you
do is you change the thrust of the airflow from going straight down,
where
you're descending in the bubble, to where it's behind you, and you fly
out
of it.

In a helicopter, what you have to do, if you got enough altitude
remaining,
is put the nose down, which is -- helicopter guys don't like to do --
and
lower the power, which they like to do even less, and try to fly out of
it.So with a V-22, you get out of it faster and easier than you do in a
helicopter.But the first thing we're going to do is -- that right now is
not
really part of our normal tactics in using these aircraft.

Q Tactical adjustments, basically, versus any kind of materiel or
software
adjustments, to avoid this --

GEN. CASTELLAW:We have a warning system on this aircraft.If you're in
that
-- get close to that particular regime, it tells you.But you know, the
tactics that we are going to use are going to minimize the requirement
or
the need to be in that regime.

Yes, sir?

Q Sir, you may have said it and I missed it, but what's the replacement
schedule for the 46?And what is that current schedule?And do you expect
to
meet that production decision?

GEN. CASTELLAW:We're operating five V-22 squadrons now.We have one
VMX-22,
which is the operational and test squadron.We have VMMT-204, which is
the
training squadron.And then we have the three tactical squadrons, 263,
162
and 266.What we intend to do is reach a transition schedule of two
squadrons
per year, and we expect to achieve that in about a year or so, get to
that
particular rate of two squadrons a year.

Q When do the last 46 leave the fleet?

GEN. CASTELLAW:Well, it'll be after I'm gone, around 2018.

Yes, sir.

Q Sir, can I ask you, how many 22s are in the squadron?And what
fraction
will this squadron represent to the total airlift capacity you're going
to
have in Anbar?

GEN. CASTELLAW:The numbers of airplanes in the squadrons depend on the
type
of squadron.We got about four aircraft in VMX-22, and that moves up and
down, depending on what level of testing that we need to do.We have been
20
and 29 aircraft in VMMT-204, and again, that depends on what level of
training we've got going through there.And then the tactical squadrons,
we'll maintain between 10 and 12, depending on what the particular
mission
is and where it's going and to any particular time.

Q And what will that be in your airlift capacity?

GEN. CASTELLAW:It will constitute about a third of the medium-lift
assets
available to Marines in Iraq.

Yes, sir.

Q Eric Weiner, (TBS ?).Do you have plans to deploy this aircraft, this
new
aircraft in Okinawa or other Pacific theaters?

GEN. CASTELLAW:Eventually we will replace the squadrons that are
currently
located in the Pacific with V-22s, the CH-46 squadrons; exactly where
they're going to be located -- we're in a review right now of that, so I
could not tell you with preciseness exactly where the V-22 squadrons are
going to end up in the Pacific.

Yes, ma'am.

Q What have you done to test them against the desert conditions they'll
experience in Iraq, the sand and the arid conditions?

GEN. CASTELLAW:The squadron that's deploying, VMM-263, has been out
west to
the desert twice.They're going to go again.We have what we call Mojave
Viper; it is a continuing exercise.It prepares not only aviation but the
ground forces for deployment to Iraq.It will go through Mojave Viper.We
also
have what we call Desert Talon, which is conducted -- Marine Aviation
Weapons and Tactics Squadron-One, MAWTS-1, which also is located in
Yuma,
Arizona, and it's a lot of dust out there.So we have put this aircraft,
not
only during its operational and developmental testing in that
environment,
but we continue to train with that for the squadrons that are going to
deploy.

Back in the back.

Q Is this aircraft difficult to learn to fly?

GEN. CASTELLAW:Well, I'll tell you, it's most difficult for us old
codgers
to do it.Helicopter guys are used to up and down with a collective and
the
cyclic.With the V-22, we have a thrust control lever, and to go fast you
push it forward, and to go slow or go down you push it back.And instead
of
just having two things, you have a third one, which is a rocker switch
that
moves the nacelles.Once you learn to incorporate the rocker switch and
the
other two movements, you got it waxed.

I found -- and I have talked to other old guys like me who have flown
it,
that all you have to do is introduce one significant emotional event
when
you're down low by going the wrong way, and after that you're
fixed.(Laughter.)

Yes, ma'am?

Q Thank you, sir.I was wondering if politics was at all a consideration
in
your choice, perhaps the visibility that this aircraft will have in Iraq
versus in Africa and how that will affect, you know, successful missions
and
also missions that turn out like you want?

GEN. CASTELLAW:You know, I was walking down the hall and the J3 of the
Joint Staff, Doug Luke (sp), asked me, "Hey, when can we have this
aircraft
in Afghanistan?"I've had another one ask me, "When can we have this
aircraft
in the Horn of Africa?"Still others want it in the Western Pacific.

I think you've seen the commandant on numerous times say that his
objective
is to provide the best equipment available to those Marines that are in
the
greatest need.And right now, after we've done the evaluation, done the
troop
to task evaluation, it is our view that the V-22 right now can do the
greatest amount of support in Iraq.As soon as we get the other squadrons
transitioned, we'll be putting them aboard ships where they will operate
routinely, and we will deploy them to other locations.And it may be as
we go
through here and things continue to improve in West Anbar and other
locations that we may move this aircraft around.It can fly 900 miles
un-refueled.It has the capability to be aerial refueled.It can go to any
location within Iraq from the place that we're going to put it without
being
refueled.So you have a mobile capability here that we can put -- in its
expeditionary nature -- to where we need it.And I'm sure that
operational
forces will be able to utilize that capability.

Q Thank you.

Do you have any big questions on how it will perform on those ships?

GEN. CASTELLAW:I'll get back to you.

Q Thank you.

Q Point of clarification on a previous question -- are you confident
that
this aircraft is going to be able to better survive the threats that
have
brought down helicopters in recent months in Iraq?

GEN. CASTELLAW:Yes.Going back to it again, it's twice as fast, going
240
knots.If you've ever gone rabbit-hunting, you know that it's harder to
shoot
a rabbit that's running than the one that's sitting still.(Laughter.)

When you're talking about the ability to climb to altitude outside the
heart of the threat over there, and fly above it, then you avoid it.You
can
plan for coming down into the particular area that you're going to
operate
at a lower altitude with, by having coordinated assets to support you
there,
and I'm talking about the gunships, whether we're talking about
fixed-wing
or rotary wing.And so that will allow us to reduce the time that our
Marine
sailors -- and we'll fly soldiers and airmen and whoever else that needs
to
be moved to -- that will reduce the time that they're exposed to the
threat.

Yes, ma'am, I'll get back to you.

Q Oh, I appreciate you coming back.

I just wanted to follow up on the ship question, if you had any
lingering
questions about how it would perform on a ship.

GEN. CASTELLAW:It's going to perform well.We've done exhaustive tests
aboard ships.Within the last few months, we've been out on some of the
support ships that have small platforms, landing platforms, and fairly
austere.So we continue to expand the numbers of ships and all that it
can
operate on.And so we feel real comfortable with its ability to operate
in
the maritime environment.

Yes, ma'am.

Q Sir, what is the simplest way that you can explain the problems that
led
to the crashes that were so high-profile the last few years, and how
those
have been fixed?

GEN. CASTELLAW:The one that we talked about earlier on was the vortex
ring
state.That's -- so helicopter pilots call it power settling, because
you're
flying at a low air speed, fairly high altitude, and you got a lot of
power
on the aircraft.So essentially, if I can try to use my hands, is --
you're
almost coming down vertically.

When that happens, particularly as in the case at Mariana, when your
tailwind -- what that does is keep the turbulence under you.And as that
turbulence increases and your power increases, your blades start to
stall
out from the center out, and you get a column of air that comes up
through
it.And eventually the blades complete the stall, and the aircraft
becomes
uncontrollable.

Now, what we will do -- and this -- that particular aircraft started
out at
2,000 feet -- we do not expect to descend from 2,000 feet in a
helicopter
mode.We'll be in the fixed-wing mode.We'll avoid that.

If we -- for whatever reason, we have to do that, and we're in that, as
I
said, take that little thumb, which is the very important appendage to a
V-22 guy, and you push it forward 15 degrees and you fly out of it
almost
instantaneously and recover.

So that process is what we are teaching in simulators.Everybody has a
dedicated simulator flight that shows you how to do that, shows those
conditions to you and allows you to understand them, feel them and then
fly
out of them.

We also have a warning system that says when you reach those
parameters,
800 feet per minute rate of descent and 40 knots or below, you know,
hey,
you're stupid, you're stupid; fly out of it.(Soft laughter.)And you do
that.Okay?So that will happen.

On the one at New River, what was happening is, as there's a -- you
know,
like a(n) easy button -- I don't know -- Radio Shack or whatever -- you
know, the easy button -- well, on the aircraft, you have a reset button
for
the flight control system.What happened at New River was -- is that
there
was a software flaw in there that every time you hit that button, it
caused
the props to come back to zero pitch.Okay.And when that happened,
because we
also had an associated hydraulic failure, one of the props was moving at
a
slower rate than the other.

And so every time you did the easy button and reset it, then you had
put a
yaw into the airplane and a deceleration, and eventually, it was in
airplane
mode, the aircraft stalled.And when it stalled, then it hit the
terrain.Since then, we've reworked the hydraulic system, we've reworked
the
software, we've rerouted hydraulic lines, and we have addressed those
issues
that we discovered.And then, in addition to that, as a part of the
training,
people now ensure that you have a better understanding of as you do
these
particular things and these procedures and what impact you're having on
the
airplane.

So we're very confident that in both of these situations we've
identified
what the issues were, and either through a combination of mechanical
software, training, that we have addressed those issues and that the --
that
those are no longer problems that -- with the airplane.

Yes, ma'am.

STAFF:Excuse me.Pam, this will be the last question.

Q Clarify on the seven aircraft.Were they all 46s?

GEN. CASTELLAW:(Off mike.)

Q Okay.And how many Marines did you lose in (that ?) combat?

GEN. CASTELLAW:I'm not going to talk about that.

Thank you very much.I've enjoyed talking with you.And again, a big day
for
the Marine Corps, and I think a big day for those Marines that are in
harm's
way.

Thank you much.