The US Navy has awarded a $105.4m contract to the Bell Boeing Joint Project Office for work related to the Block C upgrade of the Navy’s 91 MV-22 and 21 CV-22 Osprey aircraft.

Under the contract, the company will upgrade the engine air particle separator and install a shaft driven compressor inlet barrier filter.

The Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey is a multimission tiltrotor aircraft, which can transport 24 combat troops, 20,000lb of internal or up to 15,000lb of external cargo.

The CV-22 Osprey is a self-deployable aircraft equipped with integrated threat countermeasures, terrain-following radar, forward-looking infrared radar and other advanced avionics systems.

Work will be carried out at the company’s facilities in Pennsylvania and Texas and is expected to be complete by October 2014.

The contract has been awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland.