Bell Boeing Awarded $35.8 Million Deal to Upgrade Marine, Navy Ospreys

The Amarillo, Texas, office received a not-to-exceed $35.8 million modification to add nacelle improvement kits and pylon support assemblies for MV-22 and CMV-22 retrofits, the Navy said.

First Published: July 31, 2026, 1:30 PM ET

AMARILLO, TEXAS — Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, the Amarillo, Texas, partnership that builds the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, received a not-to-exceed $35.8 million contract modification to upgrade Marine Corps and Navy aircraft, as announced on war.gov.

The modification lifts the ceiling on a previously awarded firm-fixed-price delivery order and adds scope to procure five nacelle improvement kits and 10 shipsets of pylon support assemblies. The retrofit targets MV-22 and CMV-22 aircraft to enhance operational capabilities for the Navy and Marine Corps, the Naval Air Systems Command said in the award notice. The contract was not competed.

“This modification increases the not-to-exceed ceiling, adding scope to procure an additional five Nacelle improvements kits and 10 shipsets of pylon support assemblies for retrofit of MV-22 and CMV-22 aircraft,” the contracting notice said.

Fiscal 2025 aircraft procurement funds of $23.1 million and fiscal 2026 aircraft procurement funds of $3.7 million will be obligated at award, according to war.gov. Work will span Amarillo, Texas, at 84%, Fort Worth, Texas, at 15%, and Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, at 1%, with completion expected in August 2030.

The deal keeps money flowing to a supply base facing an uncertain horizon. Boeing runs the Osprey fuselage line at its Philadelphia-area complex, southwest of the city, which employed about 4,100 people as of 2023, according to aviationweek.com. The Navy said in February 2023 that it was negotiating a sole-source contract to shut down Osprey production, according to aviationweek.com, leaving modernization work as a critical lifeline for the program and its workers.

The Osprey combines vertical takeoff with turboprop cruise speed, and it entered Marine Corps service in 2007 after first flying in 1989, according to wikipedia.org. The Navy began using the CMV-22B for carrier onboard delivery in 2021, according to wikipedia.org. Bell Helicopter partnered with Boeing Vertol on a preliminary design contract in 1983, the only proposal the Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimental program received.

For the average reader, the award reflects how the Pentagon sustains aging aircraft rather than buying new ones. Retrofit kits extend the service life of a fleet that ferries troops and cargo, spending taxpayer dollars on reliability upgrades instead of fresh production lines.

This has happened before. Boeing began modernizing older V-22s at the Philadelphia line for the Marine Corps’ Common Configuration-Readiness and Modernization program, which started delivery in 2020, according to aviationweek.com. Retrofit and sustainment work has become the dominant future for the program as new builds dwindle.

The award marks the first contract to Bell Boeing Joint Project Office in 2026, bringing its year-to-date total to $35.8 million, and it stands as the 71st Department of Defense contract in Texas this year. The figure trails the company’s record award of $379.4 million and sits well below the 2026 Navy portfolio’s year-to-date high near $8 billion. It ranked among 14 Department of Defense contracts announced nationwide that day.

Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Maryland, serves as the contracting activity and will manage future definitization and delivery. A date for the next contract decision on the Osprey line has not been announced.

Tiltrotor development has tested its builders before. The V-22 program traced its origins to the failed Operation Eagle Claw, the 1980 Iran hostage rescue mission that exposed gaps between helicopters and fixed-wing transports, according to wikipedia.org. Bell and Boeing spent nearly two decades navigating accidents and redesigns before the Marine Corps fielded the MV-22B, and by 2020 the manufacturers had built roughly 400 aircraft, according to wikipedia.org. The endurance of that partnership turned a single unopposed 1983 design proposal into a fleet still drawing upgrade dollars four decades later.

This contract represents the 1st contract awarded to Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $35,795,938. It is also the 71st Department of Defense contract awarded in Texas during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, whose record stands at $379,377,099, it is notable within the Navy portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Navy portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,046,496 and maximum of $8,000,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 14 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 31, 2026.