Osprey contract awarded

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Associated Press

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. — The Department of the Navy has awarded a $37.4 million contract to support evaluation work on a variation of the Osprey aircraft, with half the work to be done at Kirtland Air Force Base and half in California.

The contract was awarded to the Bell-Boeing joint program office, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said. The contract is a modification of an existing contract and is to be completed by December.

It’s part of an effort to develop the CV-22, a long-range aircraft for the U.S. Special Operations Command.

Last March, the military announced Kirtland Air Force Base would activate a new training squadron, the 71st Special Operations Squadron, for the tilt-rotor Osprey. The first Ospreys are expected at Kirtland this spring to replace the aging fleet of MH-53 Pave Low helicopters.

The Osprey can take off and land like a helicopter but fly like an airplane after its rotors shift from vertical to horizontal.

Kirtland received a $28 million flight simulator for it in 2003. The base has been preparing for the aircraft since 2001.