V-22 Reliability Upgrades Funded
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By Lee Ann Tegtmeier/AviationWeek.com
The Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey is poised to receive $30 million of upgrades thanks to two Department of Defense contracts issued late July 15.
The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md., awarded the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office a $24.5 million time and material contract for delivery of "safety correction actions, reliability and maintainability improvements, and quick reaction capability improvements in support of V-22 Osprey missions" for U.S. military operations. NAVAIR expects the work to be finished in December 2010.
A $6 million contract goes to Northrop Grumman to perform configuration upgrades to the V-22 aircraft infrared countermeasures. This contract, also issued by NAVAIR in Patuxent River, should be finished in June 2012.
These could be coming at a good time because of the maintainability and poor reliability concerns recently raised by Congress and the Government Accountability Office. Aviation Week & Space Technology reported on July 6 that "The (V-22) prediction for Fiscal 2009 was $5,362 per flying hour, yet the actual cost is 119% higher, $11,748, according to a May 18 House Armed Services seapower and expeditionary forces subcommittee memorandum."
Photo credit: US Navy
