POTD: Reconnaissance U.S. Marines With Polaris MRZR & MMX Bikes

@Mystick Rzr 4 seat had 13.5 inch ground clearance most of other 4x4 had 10 inch or less.

@Mystick The 4 seaters have pretty decent ground clearance and the bottoms of them are pretty slicked up with skid plates everywhere you'd really want them. Also because of front and rear wheel placement they have much better approach and departure angles than they look like...

Could you probably do better?

Yeah maybe?

Would it actually be worth it?

Probably not.

@Jack Donnelly Statistically they aren't the most crash prone aircraft in the DOD. Blackhawks, F35s, CH53s, and harriers all have higher accident rates.
https://breakingdefense.com...

@marinc I ready somewhere that Marine aircraft are 6 times more likely to crash than Navy. Wonder for it’s a training or number of flights thing.

@marinc People don't care about statistics, they care about headlines and click bait. Few people know that for the first decade of service the UH-60 had the unflattering knickname of "crash-hawk". A well known former Delta member and figure in the firearms community even stated that during his time in Delta he was involved in 3 seperate helicopter crashes.
How about the F-35? Currently the F-35 (A,B and C models included) have a higher safety rate than when the F-16 first entered service for same length of time. These platforms are high ticket/profile items so any incident will get outsized focus.

I will say this however, being an acquaintance of someone who flew helicopters and knows a little something about the V-22, when it crashes it crashes harder than your typical helicopter. The main reason to that is because unlike normal helicopters the V-22 cannot conduct an autorotation landing.

Sorry for this tirade. It annoys the hell out of me when people have an over the top reaction to something that they obviously have no experience or research/study about.

@Uniform223 The MV-22, currently has the safest safety record of any rotary wing aircraft in American service. Of the 9 operational Class "A" mishaps, 7 were due to pilot error, 1 was unknown mechanical issues, most likely the clutch assembly and the other was sand ingestion due to failure to properly service the air filters. There have been 6 Class "B" mishaps on MV-22 and CMV-22. On 11 July 2006, CMV-22B experienced compressor stalls in its right engine in the middle of its first transatlantic flight to the United Kingdom for the Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough Airshow, It was diverted to Iceland for maintenance. December 2006, a nacelle fire occurred on a Marine MV-22 at New River. 29 March 2007, a MV-22B experienced a hydraulic leak that led to an engine-compartment fire before takeoff. 6 November 2007, MV-22 Osprey, caught on fire during a training mission and was forced to make an emergency landing at Camp Lejeune. The fire, which started in one of the engine nacelles, caused significant aircraft damage, but no injuries. On 7 July 2011, an MV-22 crew chief from VMM-264 squadron fell nearly 200 ft to his death in southwestern Afghanistan. October 2014, an MV-22 Osprey lost power shortly after takeoff from the USS Makin Island. The aircraft splashed down in the Arabian Sea and was briefly partially submerged four feet (one metre) before the pilots regained control and landed on the carrier deck. One marine drowned after his life preserver failed to inflate when he bailed out of the aircraft. The accident was attributed to the aircraft being accidentally started in maintenance mode, which reduces engine power by a fifth. On 29 January 2017, an MV-22 experienced a hard landing during the Yakla raid in Al Bayda, Yemen against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants, causing two injuries to U.S. troops. All 6 of these were related to human, pilot or maintenance errors.

@Robert Aren't marines navy?

@iksnilol Shhh, they don't like to admit that

@Robert A (retired) Marine I know says it is because they get the used equipment the Navy doesn't need any more...and which is therefore more likely to break down.

@Uniform223 The F-16 was first adopted in early 1979. Of course a modern fighter adopted in 2015 is going to have a higher safety rate. That's like boasting the higher safety rate of the Su-25 compared to the Il-2.

@iksnilol The U.S. Marine Corps is a Dept. Of the Navy. So the comment above getting hand me downs from the Navy has been my experience.
My M16 was used in desert storm while the army and Navy had new crap all the time. I was stuck with it because I had a 203 mounted under it.
After awhile flat top A4's with acogs started to trickle in Afghanistan. But I was stuck with iron sights.
The Marine Corps is uncle Sams red headed step child.
And the whole "we can do more with less" has really hindered what the Corp can actually do with the right equipment. It looks like it's gotten better as Marines are better equipped today moreso than any other time in history. Kill!!

@marinc How dare you combat an internet PhD carrying astronaut with…facts! How dare you, sir!

@IOJ I don’t see how what year an airplane is introduced into service has anything to do with how safe it is. The 737-100 and 200 introduced in 1968 had a smoother and safer introduction to service than the 737-Max did in 2016. With big programs like aircraft there are often other factors, like cost cutting or pressure to field a system before it is ready that can have a huge impact on accident rates.