War with the Osprey: Technology and the Limits of Vision in Warfare

The development of tiltrotor aircraft, specifically the V-22, is analyzed as a revolutionary technology and is compared with the development of similar technology from military history. The role and relative importance of technology in modern warfare is discussed in the context of Clausewitzian theory. The inability of governments and military organizations to easily assimilate revolutionary innovations is highlighted. Factors such as doctrine and rigid organizational thinking, among other things, are identified as sources of resistance to innovation. As a result, revolutions in warfare, as exemplified by such innovative weapons as the machine gun, tank and airplane, have not been recognized and employed early in the development cycle. The V-22, also an innovation of historical proportions, has suffered a similar fate for remarkably similar reasons Marine, Capabilities, Osprey, V-22, Technology, Innovation, Doctrine, Clausewitz.