I did not read the entire article, either, but I would point out the V-22 has not been canned--it was very close numerous times, but it will be produced. I noticed the article was written in 2002, a tumultuous time for the program, so it may have given the impression the program was in danger of cancellation, but as I said, it has been decided to produce this aircraft.
As you stated, the program has been 'problematic' to say the least. I think there have been 3 fatal crashes throughout its development, one of them killing about 30 marines. One of the main obstacles was the problem of rotor downwash--a complex aerodynamic problem in which during very rapid descent manoeuvers the rotors can actually get into their own downwash resulting in a loss of stability and lift. This is what led to the fatal crash killing 30 marines. The fix I believe has been to train pilots not to descend too quickly, or they may have upgraded flight control software to prevent such fast descents. Another problem affecting the program had to do with manufacturing problems with the complex gear mechanism in each nacelle. This problem has also since been dealt with.
There must have been countless other problems throughout the nearly two decade development of this aricraft, but in the end the Marines pushed hard enough and some lobbying was done and now the marines are supposed to get about 350 MV-22s, each costing about $50-$60 million a copy if the manufacturers Bell and Boeing live up to promises to reduce the current cost of about $70 mil.. The Airforce also wants about 50 CV-22s for its special forces. I should also mention that it really does look like the program managers pulled things together quite well the past few years. This year the V-22 passed its Operational Evaluation with flying colors. Also, most importantly, the V-22 tiltrotor obviously has capablities superior to traditional rotorcraft (speed and range) yet has the advantage of VTOL, and with pretty heavy loads at that.