Bell Boeing Wins $366M to Deliver 3 CMV-22B Osprey Variants to US navy

Bell Boeing is awarded $366.6 million modification contract for the production and delivery of three CMV-22B variations in aircraft for the Navy and two MV-22B variations in quantity aircraft for the Marine Corps. 

Work is expected to be completed in October 2023, US department of defense said in a statement Thursday. 

The CMV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft will feature a fixed-wing design with two main wings mounted on top of the fuselage. The tail configuration will comprise a pair of vertical fins connected by a horizontal tailplane.

The aircraft can perform take-off and landing operations onshore as well as on the aircraft carriers using tri-cycle landing gear, which includes a two-wheeled nose gear and a pair of two-wheeled main gears. It will feature both vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and short take-off and landing (STOL) capabilities.

The tiltrotor will have a length of 63ft, a wingspan of 84.6ft with rotors running, and a height of 22ft. The maximum gross weight of the aircraft in VTOL and STOL modes will be 23.4t (52,600lb) and 25.4t (57,000lb) respectively. The aircraft can carry up to 2,720kg (6,000lb) of cargo or personnel, including four crew and up to 23 passengers.

The aircraft will be provided with an improved lighting system for cargo loading operations and a public address system for on-board passengers.

It will also incorporate improved fuel dump capability to dump fuel in-flight in emergency situations and aerial refuelling capability to refuel other naval aircraft based on the aircraft carrier.