Washington — The top Marine Corps general reaffirmed his support Wednesday for the V-22 Osprey aircraft, which some in the Pentagon think is in danger of cancellation by the Bush administration.
Gen. James Jones, the Marine Corps commandant, also denied a news report that he had ordered a search for alternatives to the Osprey, which uses tilt-rotor technology to take off and land like a helicopter and fly like an airplane.
"Until proven otherwise, the V-22 remains the program of choice," Jones said in a written statement. He was responding to a New York Times story which said he had asked for a review of alternatives to the innovative but technically troubled Osprey.
"There has been no watershed event that has prompted me to ask for a search of options, or a study of alternatives to the Osprey, and I have not done so," Jones said. "Nor do I have any new information that would lead me to believe that this important program is 'in peril."'
The Times report said that by ordering a search for alternatives to the Osprey, Jones was acknowledging that the program is in peril. Asked to comment on Jones' statement, the Times' Washington bureau news editor, Carl Lavin, said, "We stand by our story."
The Marines have spent $12 billion developing the Osprey as a replacement for its Vietnam-era CH-46E combat assault helicopters and CH-53D transport helicopters, which are breaking down at an alarming rate.
Among the possible alternatives to building the Osprey is resuming production of the CH-53 or buying H-60 Black Hawks, a troop transport helicopter used by the Army. The Marines have considered these possibilities in the past and concluded that it made more sense, economically and operationally, to buy Ospreys.
Two Osprey crashes last year, killing a total of 23 Marines, raised questions about the safety of the aircraft and prompted the Pentagon to order an independent review of the project, adding to speculation that it may be canceled, delayed or scaled back.
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