Bell Boeing Team Awarded Contract for Next Phase of V-22 Osprey Support

AMARILLO, Texas, June 15, 2009 – The Bell Boeing Program Office announced today that it has been awarded Phase 1.5 of a two-phase Joint Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to support the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft for the Marine Corps (MV-22), and Air Force Special Operations Command (CV-22).

Phase 1.5 of the contract, valued at $11 million, is a modification to an existing contract, designed to implement reliability improvements on a select number of aircraft components which have been determined to have a significant impact on mission readiness. Under the terms of the new contract, government is investing in non-recurring engineering costs to enable Bell Boeing engineers to design changes to certain key aircraft components to improve reliability.

"Phase 1.5 of the PBL process is the next step in this proactive partnership between government and industry," said Gene Cunningham, vice president of the Bell Boeing Program Office in Amarillo. "It will enable us to develop long-term improvements to several V-22 components that will be key to boosting aircraft reliability and mission readiness rates as we continue to mature the Osprey fleet."

Phase I of the contract, valued at $581 million over five years, was awarded to Bell Boeing in January 2009 and provides integrated logistics support for the Osprey fleet, including program management, site activation, maintenance planning and supportability analysis, technical data, in-service engineering and logistics, training and trainer support, support equipment, and dedicated and deployable support for all V-22 squadrons across the globe. Phase II of the PBL contract, not yet awarded, will include supply chain management, which encompasses the purchase, repair, stocking and delivery of approximately 15,000 spare and repair aircraft parts. PBL contracts allow customers to purchase performance instead of paying for individual parts or services.

The V-22 Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft manufactured by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems (NYSE: BA) and Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company. Bell and Boeing are teamed in a Strategic Alliance Agreement for the design, production, and sustainment of the V-22.