Bell-Boeing to build 58 new V-22 aircraft and avionics in $4.2 billion U.S. military order
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. military aviation officials are ordering versions of 58 V-22 tiltrotor aircraft and avionics from the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office (JPO) in St. Louis under terms of a $4.2 billion order announced Friday.
Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking the Bell-Boeing JPO to build 39 CMV-22B aircraft for the Navy; 14 MV-22B aircraft for the Marine Corps; 1 CV-22B for the Air Force; and 4 MV-22B aircraft for the government of Japan.
The Bell-Boeing JPO is a joint venture of Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Boeing Co. Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis.
The V-22 Osprey uses tiltrotor technology to combine the vertical performance of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft. It features vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and short take-off and landing (STOL) capabilities, and is designed long-range high-speed missions.
The aircraft has a weather radar, a forward firing ALE-47 airborne countermeasures dispenser system, improved hover coupled features, and an improved environmental conditioning system, compared to earlier versions of the tiltrotor.
Related: The Marine Corps is trying to turn its V-22 Osprey into a gunship
The V-22 Osprey is a joint service, multirole combat aircraft that uses tiltrotor technology to combine the speed and range of a fixed-wing airplane with the vertical performance of a helicopter.
With its nacelles and rotors in vertical position, it can take off, land, and hover like a helicopter. Once airborne, its nacelles rotate forward to transform the aircraft into a turboprop airplane capable of high-speed and high-altitude flight.
The Navy CMV-22B will serve as the future carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft. The COD mission, now handled by the Northrop Grumman C-2A Greyhound turboprop fixed-wing aircraft, carriers people, mail, supplies, medical patients, and equipment to aircraft carriers at sea from shore facilities.
The Marine Corps MV-22 transports warfighters, equipment, and supplies from ships and land bases for combat assault and assault support. The aircraft also supports naval missions like combat search and rescue, fleet logistics support, special warfare support, amphibious assault, ship-to-objective maneuvers, and sustained operations ashore.
The MV-22 can transport 24 combat troops and 20,000 pounds of internal cargo, or 15,000 pounds of external cargo. On this order Bell-Boeing will do the work in Ridley Park and Glen Riddle, Pa.; Fort Worth, Texas; Park City, Utah; and other U.S. locations, and should be finished by May 2020.
The CV-22B is the U.S. Air Force's version of the V-22 tiltrotor, and is for special operations and search and rescue. It also can help with cargo lifts on humanitarian missions.
On this order Bell-Boeing will do the work in Fort Worth, Amarillo, McKinney, Denton, and Red Oak, Texas; Ridley Park and Erie, Pa.; East Aurora, Rome, and Endicott, N.Y.; Park City, Utah; Rockmart, Ga; Irvine, Los Angeles, and Dublin, Calif.; Crestview, Fla.; Rockford, Ill.; Tempe, Ariz.; East Hartford, Conn.; Minden, Neb.; Hazelwood, Mo.; and in other locations inside and outside the continental U.S., and should be finished by November 2024.
For more information contact the Bell-Boeing JPO online at www.bellflight.com/military/bell-boeing-v-22, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
