PATUXENT RIVER, Md., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey program has submitted a proposal to the U.S. government for a second multiyear contract to produce the aircraft.
Work on the V-22 under the first award, which runs to fiscal year 2012, is on-time and under budget the company said.
Under that contract, 174 aircraft, including 143 MV-22 variants for the U.S. Marine Corps and 31 CV-22s for Air Force Special Operations Command were being produced.
The MYP II proposal includes 122 aircraft over fiscal years 2013-17, continuing deliveries through 2019.
Ten Marine and five AFSOC V-22 squadrons are operational and the two services have together logged 16 successful combat, humanitarian, ship-based and special operations deployments since 2007.
The V-22 Osprey is a joint service, multi-role combat aircraft using tiltrotor technology to combine the vertical performance of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft.
With its nacelles and rotors in vertical position, it can take off, land and hover like a helicopter. Once airborne, its nacelles can be rotated to transition the aircraft to a turboprop airplane capable of high-speed, high-altitude flight.
"Bell Boeing is very pleased to respond to the Navy's request for proposal for a second multi-year contract for V-22 Osprey production," said John Rader, executive director, Bell Boeing V-22 Program.
"In an era that demands greater fiscal responsibility, the MYP II contract would enable us to most-efficiently deliver this revolutionary capability to our customers while generating further savings for the American taxpayer and bringing strength and stability to the industrial base."
