This order provides continued non-recurring engineering support as well as the recurring procurement of kits and installs in support of the forced retrofit fleet implementation and installation of nacelle improvements and the conversion area harness onto the CV-22 aircraft for the Air Force.
This order provides engineering, production, supportability, and management support necessary to facilitate the incorporation of the improved nacelles into the fleet via forced retrofit at the depot level of maintenance for previously delivered V-22 aircraft in support of phase two of the nacelle improvements effort.
Work will be performed in Amarillo, Texas (53%); Fort Worth, Texas (46%); and Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (1%), and is expected to be completed in June 2024.
Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,665,952; fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $10,780,172; fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $49,454,795; fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,955,460; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $3,226,456 will be obligated at time of award, $4,665,952 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
V-22 contract award kicks off major nacelle redesign effort
NAVAIR - NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, MD, January 27, 2021 - The Naval Air Systems Command awarded Bell Boeing an $81 million contract to develop, design and install nacelle modification kits and install conversion area harnesses on the CV-22 Osprey, the Air Force Special Operations Command’s (AFSOC) variant of the tiltrotor aircraft.
“This complex effort will improve both the reliability and maintainability in one of the most critical areas on the aircraft,” said Col. Matthew Kelly, V-22 Joint Program Office (PMA-275) program manager. “This contract implements the most comprehensive maintainability improvement since CV-22 fleet introduction 14 years ago; it will quickly pay readiness dividends for the fleet.”
The V-22 nacelles house the power and propulsion components of the aircraft and the conversion area includes complex wiring bundles routing from each nacelle, feeding power through various elements of the aircraft. Together, the nacelles and harnesses are crucial and complex elements, responsible for giving the V-22 its unique ability to fly vertically and horizontally.
“Approximately 60 percent of maintenance man hours are spent in the nacelles,” said Col. Brian Clifford, the PMA-275 CV-22 program manager. “By refining the design for maintainability in these areas, we will ultimately reduce repair time and improve readiness.”
The planned modifications were designed based on feedback from Air Force and Marine Corps maintainers to improve access to the nacelles.
“We wanted to make sure that the individuals actually doing the hard work, opening up the nacelles, having to replace wires and troubleshoot, reap the benefits of this program,” said MSgt Bryan Sohl, the CV-22 division superintendent.
Initial kit delivery and installs, covered in this contract, are scheduled for completion in late-2021 at Bell’s Amarillo Assembly Center in Amarillo, Texas. The Marine Corps and Navy are also looking to incorporate the nacelle and wiring improvements onto the MV-22 and CMV-22B variants.
“The team’s efforts to get this contract negotiated and awarded were exemplary; the results of this contract will have positive and significant impacts to the AFSOC CV-22 fleet,” said Clifford.
PMA-275 manages the cradle-to-grave procurement, development, support, fielding and disposal of the tiltrotor program systems for the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force's Special Operations Forces and U.S. Navy.
maintenance of Osprey engine nacelle
See also |
CV-22 Osprey in
US Air Force 
Helicopters Engines USAF CV-22 Begin Nacelle Improvement
First CV-22 Nacelle Improvement Modification
