Don,

NONE of those aircraft or helos you mentioned are TRANSITIONAL craft.
The V-22 has a lousy test record that the Marines falsified heavily to
pass the a/c through and it IS a deathtrap in just "being" a
transitional craft.
Transitioning is like being a sitting duck ASKING to be hit in a highly
vunerable moment, far worse than a helo set-down.
I'm not the only person who has voiced this and want the V-22
cancelled.
As for advancements in aviation, this is nothing new. The Germans had
TWO transitional a/c designs during WW2 (from Focke-Achgelis and
Weserflug). Neither were built. The Germans DID, however, have the
Me-321 and 323 Gigant transports- the C-5s of the day able to lift
artillery, tanks, and 100 men and it flew... but no one wanted to be
inside the lumbering monster that was easy prey for Spits in the Med,
despite 10 MG defense!
There are a lot of special forces and other soldiers that don't want to
climb into the V-22 for the same reasons- the a/c is a deathtrap.
BTW, FYI, many believe that the XF-23 was better than the XF-22 but
that the USAF is biased towards Lockheed products- same as Heinkel vs
Messerschmitt. Now its Northrop vs Lockheed Martin- Whatever!
I'm for axing both these aircraft but the am in favor of the F-35 and a
reasonable new air superiority fighter- not some mess that costs the
taxpayer almost $175 million per copy when a new Su-47 and the
Euro-craft cost around $75-80 mil each. Hell, you COULD buy Flankers
for around $50-60 mil each!
And the F/A-22 performance claims are just that-company and USAF
claims. They should have just continued work on the F-16XL and further
F-15 development. The F/A-22 isn't justified at all. It went from F-22
to F/A-22 to naval F/A-22 and now a proposed F/B-22!!!
Gimme a ****ing break... that turkey isn't selling. Axe it!!!

Rob