The US Navy has awarded Bell Boeing a $90.8 million order to continue redesigning and developing the V-22 Osprey’s flight-control system. The programme covers aircraft operated by the US Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, as well as Foreign Military Sales customers, with work scheduled to continue through October 2030 at facilities across the United States.
The order, placed by Naval Air Systems Command on 15 October under an existing basic ordering agreement, includes replacement flight-control computers, cockpit interface units and associated test equipment. Bell Boeing will also develop software, technical documentation and logistics-support products for future procurement and sustainment.
The effort targets ageing electronic components, cybersecurity requirements and diminishing manufacturing sources. It is intended to provide supportable flight-control equipment for the V-22 fleet over the remainder of its service life, rather than introduce an entirely new aircraft-control architecture.
Work will be performed mainly in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, and Mesa, Arizona, with additional activity in Fort Worth, Texas, and other continental US locations. About $4.9 million was obligated at award, comprising US Air Force and Navy research-and-development funds and Foreign Military Sales funding. The non-competitive order extends a redesign effort initiated under a roughly $214.4 million Navy award in 2021.