Proposal would fortify industrial base, yield substantial savings to U.S. government

PATUXENT RIVER, Md., Aug. 5, 2011 — The Bell Boeing V-22 Program, a strategic alliance between The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and Bell Helicopter – Textron [NYSE: TXT], announced today that it has submitted its proposal to the U.S. Navy for a second multiyear procurement (MYP II) contract for the production and delivery of V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.

The five-year, fixed-price incentive proposal would provide the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) with the full complement of Ospreys outlined in the Department of Defense program of record and yield double-digit percentage savings over a single-year procurement strategy. In addition, the proposal will fortify Osprey production through 2019.

“Bell Boeing is very pleased to respond to the Navy’s request for proposal for a second multiyear 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 deliver this revolutionary capability to our customers in the most efficient way while generating additional savings for the American taxpayer and bringing strength and stability to the industrial base.”

The Bell Boeing V-22 program is presently on time and under budget in successfully executing its first multiyear procurement contract, which includes fiscal years 2008-2012 and calls for the production of 174 aircraft: 143 MV-22 variants for the Marine Corps and 31 CV-22s for AFSOC. The MYP II proposal includes 122 aircraft (115 MV-22s and seven CV-22s) over fiscal years 2013-2017, ensuring deliveries through 2019.

A total of 10 Marine Corps and five AFSOC Osprey squadrons are operational today, and the two services have together logged 16 successful combat, humanitarian, ship-based and Special Operations deployments since 2007. The worldwide Osprey fleet has amassed more than 115,000 flight hours, with nearly half of those hours logged in the past two years.

Safety, survivability and mission efficiency have become hallmarks of the operational fleet. According to Naval Safety Center records, the MV-22 has had the lowest Class A mishap rate of any tactical rotorcraft in the Marine Corps during the past decade. Fiscal year 2010 Navy flight-hour cost data also show that the Osprey has the lowest cost per seat-mile (cost to transport one person over a distance of one mile) of any U.S. naval transport rotorcraft.

The V-22 Osprey is a joint service, multirole combat aircraft that uses 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.

More than 145 Osprey tiltrotors are currently in operation. Marine Corps MV-22s are currently deployed in Afghanistan supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit supporting contingency operations, while AFSOC CV-22s are deployed in support of ongoing Special Operations missions.

Source: Boeing