Bell
The Bell Boeing partnership said Thursday the first U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey aircraft designated for improvements to component housings - nacelles - arrived Sept. 21 at Bell's Amarillo Assembly Center.
Bell Boeing won an $81 million contract in December 2020 from Naval Air Systems Command to complete nacelle improvements on the CV-22 fleet, to increase the Osprey’s reliability and maintainability for the U.S. Defense Department.
Bell Boeing will perform the CV modifications in Amarillo and Fort Worth, and is expected to complete the upgrades on all CV-22 aircraft by 2025.
About 60% of maintenance man hours on the CV-22 are spent in the nacelles. "Bell Boeing successfully engineered more than 1,300 new V-22 part numbers to help improve reliability and maintainability of the nacelles while also reducing repair time," Bell Boeing said. "The improvements are predicted to increase aircraft availability and reduce maintenance time."
NAVAIR completed the first flight with nacelle improvements on a Marine MV-22 test aircraft on April 23. "The MV-22 shares the same nacelle structure as the CV-22 and allowed the Bell Boeing team to receive input from NAVAIR and fleet maintainers before the first Air Force aircraft begins modifications," Bell Boeing said.