The Osprey had had numerous deaths due to poor design, but since Boeing is such a large contractor, the US military allows for these deaths in the name of "progress".

A few crashes have proven how unsafe those things are.

I thought I read that Israel is cutting back it's defense budget. If you can't afford to pay for them don't buy them, the U.S. is not footing the bill.

This may test Obama' degree of support. This aircraft took some time to develop from he 1980's and has later been fitted with updated avionics, .50 cal gun option, can do short or vertical take off. Not easy to fly yet none have been lost by US in ME wars. Can be re-fueled in-air, can carry mix of special ops and cargo. Sounds like something of great value for......

A V-22's rotors might go into a treacherous aerodynamic condition called "vortex ring state," in which a rotor can suddenly lose lift. Lateral darting is one reason former V-22 test pilot Grady Wilson recalls the aircraft as "squirrely." "It puts out a gale force wind underneath it," Wilson said. "So you hover at 50 feet, because as you start to come down ... it wobbles around."

I saw it being tested in Amarillo Texas about 6-7 years ago. There were words that they were not yet very safe. I wonder if the safety issues are addressed by now? In late 1980 ies there was even a plan to use them in New York City but it never materialized.

They Doctor them up with Israeli Know How! Should be a good addition for Covert Ops?

Enough already.

tha Oussama bin laden. Notoriously expensive and unreliable. Bad purchase.

Cash up front, in full, thank you very much.

"Cutting back" does not mean "gutting". Secondly, those things are so unsafe, I HOPE Israel comes to it's senses after reviewing and scraps the deal.

Not that I am an expert, but I have been following air force news for some years now, and ever since the Osprey entered service with the USMC, there were a lot of fatal accidents.

The current workhorse for rotor aircraft in the IAF is the Sea Stallion helicopter but the fleet is ageing. The new super sea stallion can carry heavier payloads, is cheaper than the Opspray and of course easier to integrate because its a new version of a helicopter they operate already. The US also has both heavy lift helicopters and Ospreys so they can specialise for the mission. Israel doesn't have that luxury so needs the most versatile and that the helicopters. If they do want Ospreys & its mainly for special forces then don't need more than 2-3 and spend the other part of the money assigned for rotary aircraft on helicopters.

looking for a place to happen. We would be doing Israel a favor to let Arab countries have it. It isn't something to give or sell to a friend.

The USMC is still trying to recover from spending billions on this mistake. It is the wrong aircraft for any mission. The slight increase in speed over a helicopter is not worth the complexity this configuration demands along with the expensive maintenance.

This is what Israel needs. Israel can use them against Hizbollah terrorist and later against Iran. This would a valuable asset for Israel to have.

I thought the Osprey is a British aircraft? I may be wrong, of course!