MV-22 Osprey Headed to Afghanistan

Hundreds of Marines are gearing up for a deployment to Afghanistan and bringing a new bird with them.

200 Marines and 10 MV-22 Osprey’s from New River are headed to the battlefield this month.

It’s the first time the Osprey has been used there but pilots have logged 9,000 hours in Iraq since the fall of 2002.

The Marine Corps says it’s an ideal weapon for the region. Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Morgan explained, “This is an aircraft that can cruise at 2.5 times the speed of any of our current helicopters, it cruises at altitudes in excess of 13 thousand feet and it gets into and out of zones very quickly. It’s really made for a place like Afghanistan.“

Lieutenant Colonel Morgan says the Marine Corps has addressed many of the reliability issues of the aircraft during its service in Iraq.