The V-22 Osprey’s history has been long, and troubled. The aircraft remains controversial despite a $200 million order for 3 MV-22s in August 2006; the forced abort of a direct-deployment flight to the 2006 Farnborough Air Show has been the most recent caution light for the program.
The US Marines’ MV-22B was declared “operationally suitable and effective for military use” last year, though the criteria for doing so have been questioned. SOCOM’s CV-22 for use by US Special Forces is in a less advanced phase of development, however, and is currently undergoing modifications and flight testing.
Unless otherwise specified, The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD issued the contracts.
Sept 21/06: The Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office in Patuxent River, MD received a $15.2 million delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N68335-04-G-0006) for 156 operational test program sets (OTPS) for Lot I (96), Lot II (42), and OTPS 14 (18) to support the V-22 aircraft. This includes manufacturing, testing, acceptance testing, technical evaluation, and on-site verfication (OSV), to result in the successful site standup at a total of 6 different sites. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, PA (60%) and Ft. Worth, TX (40%), and is expected to be complete in September 2009. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, NJ issued this contract.
Sept 21/06: Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. in Fort Worth, TX received $13.1 million for ceiling-priced order #0199 under previously awarded contract N00383-03-G-001B for spare components for the V-22 aircraft. DID has covered a number of awards under this contract. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, TX and is expected to be complete by December 2008. This contract was not awarded competitively by the Naval Inventory Control Point.
Sept 15/06: The Bell Helicopter-Boeing Joint Program Office in Amarillo, TX received a $6.8 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-03-C-0067) to stand up an additional site at Hurlburt Field, FL for developmental and operational testing of the CV-22 Special Forces Variant. This contract modification will also provide for sustainment support for 5 additional CV-22 aircraft. Work will be performed at Hurlburt AFB in Fort Walton Beach, FL and is expected to be complete in December 2006.
N.B. “Hurlburt Air Force Base” was explicitly included in the DefenseLINK release. Our readers have pointed out that Hurlburt has been known in the past as an auxilliary field of Eglin AFB (“Auxilliary Field No. 9”) – but this official release suggests that its status may have been upgraded. Readers are invited to help DID clarify this, via tips@…
Sept 13/06: Small business qualifier Robertson Aviation LLC in Tempe, AZ received a sole-source $18.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 53 mission auxiliary tank systems (MATS). MATS is an off-the-shelf fuel tank that provides for extended range of flight for the USMC’s MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. Work will be performed in Tempe, AZ and is expected to be complete in February 2008. $9.9 million of these contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00019-06-C-0122).
Note that CV-22 aircraft will all feature additional fuel tanks, in order to extend their range for SOCOM missions.
Sept 11/06: The Bell Helicopter-Boeing Joint Program Office in Patuxent River, MD received a $6.7 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00019-93-C-0006) to provide additional funds for the V-22’s Engineering and Manufacturing Development Program. Specifically, this modification provides for the Interactive Electronic Technical Manual, technical data quality assurance requirements, and paper technical manuals. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, PA (70%) and Fort Worth, TX (30%) and is expected to be complete in December 2007.