Twenty five years, $20,000,000,000, multiple fatalities and this white elephant is still in the works. Yes the Marine Corp's "Osprey", a fusion of rotary and fixed wing aircraft is being deployed to Iraq. These things cost $80,000,000 apiece!This New York Times article shows the total cost in lives and dollars, to date!
"The V-22 has been the Marines’ top priority — the Pentagon has spent $20 billion so far and has budgeted $54.6 billion for it. The money has bought a craft that is half-helicopter, half-airplane and whose speed, say the Marines, will save lives.
But the V-22 has also suffered some of the deadliest test crashes in Marine history. It has claimed 30 lives, 26 of them marines, in three test flight crashes. A fourth V-22 crashed, but there were no deaths then. Many more have been damaged in lesser incidents involving fires, stalled engines and software glitches."
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