The Navy awarded Moog Military Aircraft LLC a $25,928,981 long-term contract on May 12, 2026, for the repair of components on four bladefold actuators and one power module supporting V-22 Osprey aircraft sustainment. Work will be performed at Moog’s facility in Torrance, California, with completion expected by May 2029. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity under contract number N00383-26-D-0007.
The V-22 Bladefold System
The V-22 Osprey’s bladefold system allows the aircraft’s proprotor blades to fold parallel to the nacelles for shipboard stowage, a critical capability that makes the Osprey compatible with the constrained deck and hangar spaces of Navy amphibious assault ships and Marine Corps aviation-capable vessels. Tiltrotor aircraft have proprotors with a much larger diameter than comparable-lift helicopters, and without the ability to fold the blades the V-22 could not operate from the ships that underpin the Marine Corps’ expeditionary strike capability. The bladefold sequence is performed automatically during deck handling, requiring the actuators to apply precise force at the correct moment and in the proper sequence to fold all blades reliably without damaging the rotor hub or the blade root fittings that carry significant structural loads during flight.
The bladefold actuators are hydraulic actuators that drive the mechanical folding mechanism. They must apply controlled force while the blade is moving through its fold arc and then lock the blade securely in the folded position to prevent movement during ship transit and flight deck operations. These are high-stress components operating in the marine environment — salt air, humidity, mechanical vibration, and the thermal cycling of shipboard operations accelerate wear and corrosion in ways that land-based aircraft components do not typically experience. The power module associated with the bladefold system provides the hydraulic pressure that drives the actuators, making it equally critical to the system’s reliable operation in the shipboard environment.
Depot-Level Repair Under Long-Term Contract
The contract funds depot-level repair work, the highest tier of aircraft maintenance in the military’s three-level maintenance system. Depot maintenance is performed by specialized facilities — either government depots or contractor facilities — that have the tooling, technical data, and skilled workforce to disassemble, inspect, replace worn components, test, and certify aircraft systems for return to service. Field-level and intermediate-level maintenance performed by Marine and Navy units in the operating environment can address minor issues, but restoring a degraded actuator assembly to full airworthy performance requires the precision manufacturing capabilities, hydraulic test benches, and engineering data access that depot facilities provide.
The Navy’s use of a long-term contract structure for this work, rather than annual repair task orders, reflects the value of maintaining a stable industrial relationship with a qualified depot repair source. Moog Military Aircraft has deep engineering knowledge of the V-22’s actuation and flight control systems as a major component supplier for the original aircraft program. Contracting with Moog for depot repair leverages that design knowledge, giving the repair facility access to original engineering data, proprietary component specifications, and the supplier relationships needed to source replacement parts that meet the original fit and function requirements rather than substitute components that may introduce compatibility issues.
V-22 Fleet Sustainment Across Three Services
The V-22 fleet serves the Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force Special Operations Command across distinct mission roles. Marine Corps MV-22B Ospreys provide the core medium-lift assault support capability for Marine expeditionary forces, moving troops, equipment, and supplies at tiltrotor speed from ship to shore and inland. The Navy’s CMV-22B replaced the C-2 Greyhound in the carrier onboard delivery mission, conducting logistics flights to aircraft carriers at sea. The Air Force Special Operations Command operates the CV-22B for long-range infiltration and exfiltration of special operations forces in contested environments. This cross-service fleet of several hundred aircraft generates consistent demand for depot-level actuator repair work that justifies the long-term contract structure covering through May 2029.
Sustainment costs are a growing component of the V-22 program’s lifecycle expense as aircraft accumulate flight hours and maintenance events become more frequent and complex. The Navy has been working to stabilize V-22 availability rates and reduce unplanned maintenance, both of which are affected by the speed and reliability with which depot repair facilities can return serviceable actuator assemblies to the supply system. No funds were obligated at the time of contract award; delivery orders issued under the contract will be funded with Navy working capital funds that do not carry standard fiscal year expiration, giving program managers flexibility to issue repair orders on a demand basis throughout the contract’s ordering period.
Bladefold Reliability and Fleet Readiness
The bladefold system's reliability directly affects the V-22's operational availability when operating from amphibious ships. When a bladefold malfunction prevents an aircraft from folding its blades, the aircraft cannot be stowed in standard shipboard configuration, constraining the amphibious squadron's ability to embark the full complement of Ospreys that the ship's hangar and flight deck are sized to accommodate. Ensuring that depot repair of bladefold actuators meets the quality standards and turnaround times needed to keep the fleet's actuator pool adequately stocked with serviceable assemblies is therefore directly connected to the readiness of Marine Corps assault support aviation squadrons that depend on the V-22 for ship-to-objective maneuver capability in expeditionary operations.
Moog's Torrance, California facility also reflects the broader concentration of aerospace precision manufacturing talent and specialized industrial infrastructure in the Los Angeles basin. Precision hydraulic actuator repair requires specialized test equipment — including hydraulic test benches that apply controlled pressure to actuator assemblies during acceptance testing — and access to the component supply chain for sourcing precision replacement parts that meet original equipment specifications. These capabilities are more readily available in a major aerospace manufacturing region than in more remote locations where building a qualified workforce for high-precision actuator work would require sustained investment that no single depot repair program could justify independently. Moog's established presence at Torrance gives it ready access to both the workforce and the supply chain infrastructure that actuator repair at this specification level demands.
Contractors
Moog Military Aircraft LLC is the prime contractor. Moog is a precision component manufacturer and repair source for a range of military aircraft actuation and flight control systems. Work is performed at Moog’s Torrance, California facility. Contracting activity: Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N00383-26-D-0007). Contract ceiling: $25,928,981. Completion: May 2029.
