MILLVILLE, N.J.— The V-22 Osprey Joint Performance Based Logistics (JPBL) program, which is led by the Boeing [BA]-Bell Helicopter [TXT] team developing the aircraft, is preparing to enter Phase II likely by the end of the week, a Boeing official said.
The goal is to improve the Osprey’s maintainability and reliability for the Marines and Air Force.
The V-22 program of record includes 360 Marine tiltrotors, 50 special operations versions, the CV-22, and 48 Navy MV-22 aircraft.
In 2009, the $581 million JPBL Phase 1 contract began, focused on fleet sustainment. It covers integrated logistics support and sustainment and is in the fourth year of the five-year contract, and the company expects to extend phase 1 so both phases end at the same time, Martin Anderson, director of V-22/H-46 Programs at Boeing, told reporters here Tuesday.
There are three metrics in Phase 1, which the companies are paid performance awards against. One is technical assistance, answering questions from maintainers in the field.
“Eighty percent of the questions asked in the field are answered in two hours,” Anderson said.
The second metric is engineering investigation, which deals with finding out what went wrong with a part and finding a fix in the field. Here, response time has dropped to “around 60 days” from more than 150 days before the PBL began, Anderson said.
The third metric involves ensuring the corrections from technical assistance efforts are incorporated into aircraft publications.
Phase II will include supply chain management for a certain number of parts with increased work as supply chain performance requirements are demonstrated. The work will involve making repairs in a certain amount of time, readiness improvements in components and better costs.
Since the JPBL started, $140 million in obsolescence cost avoidance has been documented, Anderson said.