Al ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- Capt. Zachary Webb says he has no qualms about the Marine Corps' newest aircraft, the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey that takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies like an airplane.

"This aircraft is a Corvette," the 29-year-old native of Orange said Thursday during an interview on this sprawling air base centrally located in Iraq's Anbar province. "It can go from zero to 220 knots from takeoff until 9,000 feet."

Webb is part of the first generation of Marine Corps pilots to fly the controversial aircraft after it went into service in the fall.

Before it did, the Osprey was dogged by fatal accidents and cost overruns, prompting critics to call for its cancellation. Marine Corps commanders stuck with the Osprey, despite the deaths of more than two dozen Marines, sailors and private contractors in crashes during its development.

But standing on the tarmac at Al Asad with several Ospreys stationed along the flight line, Webb said he loves the new aircraft he flies almost every day during his assignment in Iraq.

"It's new, it's different, and it does everything we ask it to," said the former CH-46 helicopter pilot. "It allows us to get the Marines where they need to be faster and safer. It's just a wonderful platform that's proving itself every day out here."

A member of the VMM 162 "Golden Eagles" squadron out of New River, N.C., Webb's unit recently replaced the first squadron of pilots to fly the Osprey in everyday duty.

Critics such as former Pentagon procurement specialist Phil Coyle contend that even though the aircraft's first assignment is occurring in a combat environment, the aircraft is not being asked to do much more than routine taxi service.

But the man overseeing the Osprey and all other Marine Corps aircraft in Anbar, where the Marines and not the Air Force control the airspace, dismisses those assertions.

That man is Brig. Gen. Randolph "Tex" Alles, commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

Alles recently received two more Ospreys at Al Asad, raising the count of the aircraft now in Iraq from 10 to 12.

"The Osprey is doing everything from run-of-the-mill missions such as carrying supplies and ferrying people around Iraq to supporting the most dangerous combat operations," Alles said during an interview in his office at the base command post.

Alles said the Osprey has averaged a 70 percent readiness rate, in part with the help of private maintenance contractors.

"It gives us speed, it gives us altitude, and it's good in high-threat zones," the lanky general said of the Osprey that can carry up to 24 combat-equipped troops. "It's also a very good airplane in brownout conditions, unlike our helicopters that have difficulty during sandstorms because of the dust they kick up."

Speed is the greatest asset of the Osprey, doubling the average speed of the Vietnam-era CH-46 and CH-53 helicopters by flying at more than 250 mph.

The Marine Corps spent several billion dollars more than planned to iron out problems during the Osprey's development phase. But for pilots such as Webb, the aircraft's torturous route into service is in the past.

"The Osprey is faster, smoother and a lot more comfortable than the CH-46," the 29-year-old aviator said.

It has another feature that can be invaluable in the hot deserts of Iraq.

"Unlike our other helicopters, it has air conditioning to keep the Marines comfortable when they're riding back here," Webb said as he showed off the interior of the Boeing and Bell Helicopter built aircraft.

The Osprey is not yet flying in Afghanistan's sweltering central and southern plain deserts, nor rugged mountainous areas near the Pakistani border where Marines began conducting operations last month for the first time since shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The Army's Blackhawk helicopter is carrying the bulk of that duty, although Marine commanders say they could move the Osprey into the Afghanistan theater of operations if necessary.

Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, recently announced that Miramar will be home to the West Coast Osprey fleet sometime in late 2009 or early 2010.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

SNIPPETS

1. It's called a "combat takeoff," and there's nothing that can match it at Disneyland.

When taking off from an airfield in a battle zone such as the coalition military base at Bastion in Afghanistan, C-140 pilots fly low, fast and execute a series of sharp turns.

Think of rocking left and right while seated almost to the point of falling off a chair. Combine that with the ground seemingly just below your feet and higher terrain immediately ahead and you get the idea.

The maneuver is designed so that Taliban or al-Qaida fighters don't have time to see you coming. The lower the aircraft and the faster it's moving and banking, the harder it is to shoot down.

Experiencing the maneuver while strapped in the back of a C-140 wearing a Kevlar vest and helmet leaves an indelible impression.

2. The commanding general of Marine Corps forces on the ground in Iraq's Anbar province says a new generation of more powerful and deadly roadside bombs are being manufactured in Iran.

Camp Pendleton's Maj. John Kelly said last week that despite the U.S. military's inability to conclusively prove the "explosively formed penetrator" bombs are coming from Iran, he has no doubts.

"No matter what anybody tells us," Kelly told the North County Times during an interview in his office at Camp Fallujah.

3. At Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, concrete bunkers built for the Kuwaiti air force but taken over by the Iraqi air force during the first Gulf War still show bomb damage.

Several of the bunkers spread around the large airfield show evidence of the bombing conducted by the U.S. on the Iraqi planes that were hidden inside the bunkers during the campaign to liberate Kuwait.

4. Whenever Marines travel "outside the wire," the relative security of a fixed base in Iraq of Afghanistan, they don their heavy Kevlar vests and helmets with pistols strapped to a leg and rifles at the ready.

The Marines have a three-word description for it: "Full battle rattle."

5. Smack in the middle of Al Asad Air Base and immediately adjacent to the home of the 7th Iraqi army division housed inside the air base stands a beautiful grove of tall palm trees.

Known these days as "Abraham's Garden," the grove is now fenced off and available to U.S. troops only arranging a tour with the base chaplain.

Iraqi army members can access the site anytime. Over the years of the U.S.'s involvement in Iraq, the site has been known by other names, including the simple Al Asad oasis.

Whatever the name, the site is said to have been a resting spot for Abraham during his travels.

Correction: Helicopter misnamed

The name of the Army helicopter mostly used in Afghanistan is called the Blackhawk.

We apologize.