The Air Force awarded Boeing [BA] a contract worth up to $5.7 billion over 10 years that provides for a range of post-production requirements for the KC-46A aerial refueler, including user-directed and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air vehicle needs.

The sole-source indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, awarded April 29, includes $9.1 billion in fiscal year 2018 research-and-development funds to be obligated on the first delivery order at the time of award. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be complete by April 2029.

A KC-46A tanker takes off from Boeing Field outside Seattle en route to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, Jan. 31, 2019. Photo: Boeing

Boeing began deliveries of the next-generation tanker aircraft in January, but deliveries were halted twice since then due to foreign object debris (FOD) discovered on the production line and within the aircraft at Boeing’s Everett Delivery Facility outside Seattle (Defense Daily, April 2).

The Air Force and Boeing have since resumed deliveries since they reached an agreement to implement more stringent procedures, and Boeing delivered the eighth KC-46 to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas on April 20, per the company. Air Force acquisition leaders have expressed satisfaction with the new procedures in place (Defense Daily, April 9).