Boeing Wins Contest to Build Air Force Trainer Jets
September 27 2018 - 5:26PM
Dow Jones News
By Doug Cameron
Boeing Co. on Thursday secured a hat-trick of Pentagon contract
wins after it was awarded a deal worth up to $9.2 billion to build
new trainer jets for the Air Force.
The contract to build an initial 351 T-X jets and supply
training services is one of the largest defense department programs
awarded in recent years, with the work helping sustain engineers
and production equipment while the Pentagon considers the next
generation of combat aircraft due to come into service in the
2030s.
Analysts had favored Boeing in the long-running contest,
expecting the aerospace giant to bid aggressively to secure the
future of its main military jet plant in St. Louis and position
itself for future aircraft competitions, such as the Air Force's
Penetrating Counter Air plan.
Boeing has triumphed in two recent contests to provide refueling
drones for the U.S. Navy and helicopters for the Air Force, and its
defense arm is on track to increase sales for the first time in
four years, but the larger T-X program was viewed by analysts as a
key test of its competitiveness.
Boeing pitched an all-new plane built in partnership with
Sweden's Saab AB.
The company beat out competition from teams led by Italy's
Leonardo SpA and Lockheed Martin Corp, both offering versions of
jets designed overseas and used by foreign militaries.
Analysts expect the losing bidders to appeal, given the
aggressive level of Boeing's bid. The $9.2 billion contract award
compares with the ceiling of $16.3 billion placed on the program by
the Air Force at the start of the contest.
The new planes will replace jets approaching an average age of
50 years used to train Air Force pilots. The old planes have become
expensive to maintain and lack the capabilities of planes such as
the Lockheed Martin-built F-35s that are becoming the centerpiece
of the Air Force combat fleet.
Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 27, 2018 17:11 ET (21:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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