USA Buys FY 2006 “Power By the Hour” Support for V-22 Engines

V-22 in hover mode Rolls Royce Corp. in Indianapolis, IN received a $6.5 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-95-C-0209). Work will be performed at Marine Corps Air Station New River, NC (77%); Indianapolis, IN (18%); and Amarillo, TX (5%), and is expected to be complete by November 2006. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD issued the contract. This modification exercises an option for “Power-By -The Hour” maintenance support to the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor’s AE1107C-Liberty engines. This Rolls Royce service provides their customers with a fixed engine maintenance cost over an extended period of time. A September 1998 GAO study [GAO/NSIAD-98-221: Google HTML cache | in PDF] criticized the criteria and process under which the Navy’s decision to outsource this maintenance commercially, but stated that the Navy was within its rights to do so.