$200.1M for 3 USMC MV-22 Ospreys

MV-22Bs on LHD 1(click to view full) The Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office in Amarillo, TX received a $200.1 million undefinitized contract action to begin fabrication and delivery of three MV-22B tiltrotor production aircraft. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, PA (35%); Fort Worth, TX (35%); and Amarillo, TX (15%), and is expected to be completed in December 2009. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Systems Command Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, MD (N00019-06-C-0292). The MV-22 was declared “suitable and effective” in July 2005, and approved for production; NAVAIR issued $1.17 billion in contracts in December 2005, and additional airframes have been requested via Marine Corps supplementals to replace crashed CH-46 and CH-53 aircraft. The V-22 Osprey program has had a long and troubled history, including a recent set of compressor stalls and surges that are under investigation after an MV-22 was forced to land in Iceland on the way to the 2006 Farnborough Air Show. Engine compressor stalls and surges are not catastrophic, but their frequency and consistency suggest that an investigation into root causes is prudent.