![[F]](../_images/site.gif) New York Times on the Web Forums  Science
Russian military leaders have expressed concern about US plans
for a national missile defense system. Will defense technology be
limited by possibilities for a strategic imbalance? Is this just SDI
all over again?
    (977 previous messages)
rshowalter
- 05:22am Mar 14, 2001 EST (#978
of 984) 
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu
Marine
Corps Gen. May Drop Osprey-----March 13, 2001 .... by ..THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gen. James L. Jones "disputed the claim of some
critics that he and his service have become so enamored of the
Osprey that they are blind to its vulnerabilities.
- ``I would resist with all my moral fiber the
idea that we would willingly or knowingly try to bring aboard a
program -- the V-22 or anything else -- that we've so fallen in
love with that we would put people at risk,'' he said. ``We just
simply wouldn't do that, and I don't think we've done that.''
- If the Osprey is deemed unsafe, ``I will
guarantee you that I will have no reservations whatsoever in
recommending a different course'' for Marine Corps aviation, he
said. He added that the Marines have studied alternatives many
times but for now are sticking to the Osprey.
at the end of the article, there's a web reference: marine
osprey web site: http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf
-- it is few words -
rshowalter
- 05:25am Mar 14, 2001 EST (#979
of 984)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu
clicking on those words leads to the http://www.hqmc.usmc.mil/factfile.nsf/7e931335d515626a8525628100676e0c/006111164d72c407852562de00720540?OpenDocument
at the bottom of this page is this: Date last modified:
12/30/97
Here are interesting particulars, for a program now behind
schedule, about expectations in 1997
Initial Operational Capability: 2001
Number Procured (authorized through FY98): 12 MV-22
Unit Cost (Total Program Recurring Flyaway, Constant Year,
FY94$): $40.1M
Prime Contractor(s): Boeing Defense and Space Group,
Philadelphia, PA Bell Helicopter Textron, Ft Worth, TX
*****************
The project is much less far along than this, costs are
higher, and reasons are not made clear.
It would be easy for "the powers that be" to find a reason to
kill the program, (or to continue it) and the reasons would not,
under current usages, be subject to question
rshowalter
- 05:37am Mar 14, 2001 EST (#980
of 984)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu
How much leverage does this put in the hands of people with
power who, under classified circumstances, are negotiating with the
contractors, or with military officers who have obeyed orders, and
given orders, often without a broad view? Officers, usually, who
MUST depend on their co-workers, both for the present, and for their
hopes for the future. Officers who have obligations to their
country, but to wives, families, and personal concerns as well?
How much do the contractors and officers know about each
other, and what is said to each other?
How much discussion or disclosure are they permitted?
How much money could people with this negotiating power make,
or how much discipline could they exert, under these
circumstances? Who could tell? Who could discipline them, or
subject them to the ordinary standards of competence and fairness
that operate almost everywhere else in American society?
How much money could people with this power make, or make for
other people, by means of direct skimming, or transfers of things of
value, or by using insider information in the financial
markets?
rshowalter
- 06:15am Mar 14, 2001 EST (#981
of 984)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu
Marine
Corps Gen. May Drop Osprey-----March 13, 2001 .... by ..THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS includes this language from Gen.
James L. Jones.
I'm changing an order of quotation to emphasize a logical point.
According to the article, Gen. Jones said that if
" the Osprey is deemed unsafe, ``I will guarantee you that I
will have no reservations whatsoever in recommending a different
course'' for Marine Corps aviation ......
But General Jones, the top USMC officer, also said this: .
- ``I would resist with all my moral fiber the
idea that we would willingly or knowingly try to bring aboard a
program -- the V-22 or anything else -- that we've so fallen in
love with that we would put people at risk,'' he said. ``We just
simply wouldn't do that, and I don't think we've done that.''
Does anyone have any question how the USMC officer corps will
interpret this? Does anyone doubt that an order has been given, in
the ways that count for a well run service like the Marines?
Now, how have the odds of the Osprey being "deemed unsafe"
been shifted?
How have the odds that HUMAN lapses in judgement will be
fairly judged, by the mechanisms in place?
 
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