NASA selected Bell Helicopter Textron, The Boeing Co. [BA] and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a unit of United Technologies Corp. [UTX] to compete for task orders in a total $40 million rotary aircraft contract.

How much money each firm receives will depend on what task orders it receives.

The cost plus fixed fee, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract covers a five-year period that began last week.

Work will be performed for the NASA Subsonic Rotary Wing Project, which the Fundamental Aeronautics Program of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Washington funds and manages.

Bell, Boeing and Sikorsky each will compete for task orders to provide research and development support.

Those support areas include advanced rotorcraft technologies, rotorcraft requirements in the Next Generation Air Traffic Management System, prognostics and health management, advanced rotorcraft configurations, research flight testing, wind tunnel test stands, hardware gear testing components, rotorcraft drive system sensitivity studies, avionic processor equipment and Global Positioning System upgrades, engineering analyses of advanced concepts, subject matter expert review, and advanced cockpit and crew station research.

Work will be performed at Bell’s facility in Hurst, Boeing’s facility in Mesa, Ariz., and Sikorsky’s facility in Stratford, Conn.