Pentagon awards Bell-Boeing V-22 support contract

The Pentagon recently awarded Bell-Boeing a contract worth roughly USD144 million for performance-based logistics (PBL) and engineering support for the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, according to a company statement.

This PBL contract adds support for the US Navy’s (USN’s) CMV-22B variant. Under this deal, which expands on work performed since 2008, Bell-Boeing will focus on improving aircraft maintainability and mission readiness for the USN, US Air Force (USAF), and Marine Corps (USMC) V-22 fleets.

The Pentagon recently awarded Bell-Boeing a roughly USD144 million contract for V-22 PBL and engineering support. (US Navy)

Patrick Walsh, Boeing vice-president for USN and USMC services, said on 23 January that Bell-Boeing’s approach to V-22 support focuses on bringing its aircraft expertise to various elements of maintainability and readiness such as maintenance, training, and data analytics. For maintenance, he said, Bell-Boeing collaborated with the USN, USMC, US Naval Supply Systems Command, and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to create response teams at customer locations to inspect aircraft, diagnose problems, perform necessary repairs or maintenance, and return the aircraft to the customer.

This latest contract award also includes additional field service representatives, who are on-site with the customer and bring with them the entire Bell-Boeing support network. Walsh said Bell-Boeing has on-site and deployed teams to certify trainers and develop maintenance approaches.

Bell-Boeing incorporates data analytics into maintenance efforts, yielding innovative approaches such as predictive and condition-based maintenance to improve aircraft availability and readiness. Walsh said Bell-Boeing is partnering with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to leverage data analytics to look for emerging issues in the fleet and find opportunities to improve fleet readiness through condition-based maintenance and/or parts demand forecasting.