The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing a $4 billion contract to produce 78 new F/A-18 aircraft, the Department of Defense said.
The ceiling priced $4,040,458,297 contract converts a previous advanced acquisition contract to a fixed-price-incentice-firm-target multi-year contract to deliver 78 aircraft.
“This modification provides for the full-rate production and delivery of 78 F/A-18 aircraft, specifically 61 F/A-18E and 17 F/A-18F aircraft for fiscal years 2018 through 2021,” the Pentagon said in a Wednesday, March 20 release.
Work is expected to be completed in April 2024.
The F-18 is a twin-engine, multirole fighter capable of carrying air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. It is available in single-seat (F/A-18E) and tandem-seat (F/A-18F) variants.
Last month the Navy marked the retirement of the last of its legacy F/A-18C Hornet fleet in a fly-over at Naval Air Station Oceania in Virginia. The E and F Super Hornet models are set to replace the aging F/A-18C, which was first manufactured in the last 1980s.