Roll-Royce nabs $1.2B contract for V-22 engine sustainment

Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy has awarded Rolls-Royce with a $1.2 billion contract to provide sustainment support for the V-22 AE1107C aircraft engine.

The deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, covers maintenance and repair of the engines, as well as services to include program management, logistics support and configuration management.

The V-22 Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft that combines the vertical performance of a helicopter and speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft, including the ability to convert to a turboprop plane and accomplish high-speed, high-altitude flight.

The U.S. Navy in June 2018 exercised an option for Rolls-Royce to deliver 15 production AE1107C engines, including seven for the Marine Corps, six for the Navy and two for the Air Force, by May 2019.

Work on the new contract will be performed in Indianapolis, Ind., and other locations inside and outside the continental U.S., and should be completed in February 2025.

No funds were obligated at the time of the award, but will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued.

The contract was not competitively procured. The DoD's contract announcement cites a clause in the U.S. Code stating government contracts can be issued non-competitively if "the property or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source or only from a limited number of responsible sources and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the agency."