The Navy awarded Boeing [BA] two contracts on May 13 for Stand-off Land Attack Missile – Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) and Harpoon missiles to several foreign customers, primarily Saudi Arabia.
The SLAM-ER contract is for $1.97 billion and covers building and delivering 650 missiles for Saudi Arabia as well as non-recurring engineering associated with missile obsolescence redesign efforts.
The work will mostly be split between facilities in St. Louis (47 percent) and Indianapolis (37 percent) and is expected to be finished by December 2028.
The full contract amount was obligated at time of award and the Defense Department noted it was not competitively procured pursuant to acquisition regulations.
Separately, the Navy awarded Boeing a $657 million modification to procure and deliver 467 Harpoon full-rate production Lot 91 Block II missiles and equipment to Brazil, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Thailand.
The missiles procurement is divided into 402 missiles and equipment for Saudi Arabia; 53 missiles for Qatar; eight missiles for Thailand; four missiles for Brazil; and various support equipment for Japan, the Netherlands, India, and South Korea.
The work will be largely performed in facilities in St. Louis (30 percent) and McKinney, Texas (28 percent), and is expected to be finished by December 2026.
A Boeing official noted this both extends production of some missiles while restarting the production line of others.
“These awards will not only extend production of the Harpoon program through 2026, they will also restart the production line for SLAM ER and ensure deliveries through 2028,” Cindy Gruensfelder, vice president of Boeing Weapons, said in a statement.
The company noted Boeing last delivered the SLAM-ER in 2008 but in October 2019 started construction on a new 35,000 square foot facility to support increased production of the SLAM ER and Harpoon program. Boeing expects construction to be finished by 2021.