Pentagon OKs full production of Boeing’s V-22 aircraft

Posted on: Sep. 29th, 2005 || Source: philly.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

Pentagon OKs full production of Boeing’s V-22 aircraft

In a move that could mean hundreds of new jobs at Boeing's Ridley Township facility, a Pentagon panel today endorsed the V-22 Osprey and recommended moving toward full production of the aircraft.

The ruling by the Defense Acquisition Board could mean billions of dollars in contract work for the two companies involved in its production - Providence, R.I.-based Textron and Chicago-based Boeing Co. The company will build at least 458 of the V-22 aircraft for the Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy.

Boeing spokesman Jack Satterfield said moving to full rate production of the Osprey - a fixed-wing plane with rotors that tilt so the aircraft can take off and land like a helicopter - could mean up to as many as 500 new jobs at the Ridley plant by the latter half of the decade.

The Ridley facility currently produces 11 fuselages - the body of the aircraft - a year. Satterfield said the ramp-up authorized by the Pentagon calls for that to increase to 16 aircraft in fiscal year 2007 and 24 in fiscal 2008. Followed by more gradual increases, Boeing would produce a peak of 48 under a full rate plan in 2012.

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