Bell Boeing signs $10.7M contract for V-22 Osprey radar upgrades

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Bell Boeing was awarded a $10.7 million contract for upgrades to the V-22 Osprey helicopter.

The contract, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, exercises an option for 12 A-Kits to retrofit legacy aircraft with the AN/APR-39D(V)2, AN/AAQ-24B(V)27, and the ALE-47 Power Performance Computing systems to upgrade the MV-22 from Configuration A to Configuration C, the Navy announced Thursday.

The contract also provides upgrades to the AN/APR-39D(V)2 on 48 previously Integrated Aircraft Survivability Equipment retrofitted aircraft from Configuration B to Configuration C.

Work is expected to be completed in September 2023. About two-thirds of the work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pa. with around one-seventh each in Miramar, Calif. and New River, N.C.,. as well as various locations within the continental United States.

The Navy's fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement funds in the full amount will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

The helicopter is manufactured by Bell Helicopter, a subsidiary of Textron, and Boeing Defense.

Last July, Bell Boeing received a $4 billion contract that included the manufacture and delivery of 39 CMV-22B aircraft for the Navy, 14 MV-22B aircraft for the Marine Corps and one CV-22B for the Air Force.

The aircraft is primarily used by the Marines with the first V-22 Osprey delivered to the military branch in 2012.

The Bell Boeing V-22, which is the world's first production tiltrotor aircraft, can take off, land and hover like a helicopter with its rotors in vertical position. And once airborne, it can convert to a turboprop airplane capable of flight with an airspeed of 270 knots, range of 860 nautical miles and 25,000-foot altitude ceiling, according to the Navy.

The Osprey has provided humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, amphibious assault and medical evacuation missions from amphibious ships, aircraft carriers and logistics ships.

The aircraft can carry 24 combat troops or up to 20,000 pounds of internal cargo or 15,000 pounds of external cargo, according to Bell.