The V-22 Joint Programme Office is encouraging foreign militaries at Farnborough air show to place orders for the Osprey before the end of FY2020 so as to take advantage of multi-year contract discounts that the US and Japanese military services have secured.
The US Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, as well as Japan Self-Defense Forces, signed a $4.2 billion multi-year contract in June 2018 for 78 of the tiltrotors with the Bell-Boeing joint venture which manufactures the aircraft. The purchase was the US government's third multi-year contract for the aircraft.
The bulk purchase came with a price reduction that the Joint Programme Office is able to pass on to foreign militaries, said Col Matthew Kelly, programme manager for the V-22 Joint Programme Office.
"The beauty here is now in multi-year three, whether it's a US service or whether it's a [foreign military sales] partner, we've got pre-negotiated pricing," he says. "We’ve built into that contract flexible quantities every year."
He noted that interested buyers would need to sign a letter of offer and acceptance for the aircraft before the end of fiscal year 2020 to take advantage of the expiring discounts.
To sweeten the deal, the V-22 Joint Programme Office is ready to offer indirect offsets to buying countries, such as contracts for supporting maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities, says Kelly.
"If in fact, countries in Europe, or frankly any area in the world – be that the Pacific – are interested in the V-22, we certainly with Japan got their industry involved in repair and overhaul on the V-22," he says. "We know that the same kind of set-up could work in Europe, similar to what's going on with the F-35 right now."
Kelly says Israel has expressed an interest in the V-22 and the UK has previously discussed the aircraft with his office, but he declines to name other prospective buyers.
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Source: FlightGlobal.com
