Boeing Wins $5.7Bln US Military Air Tanker Contract - Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Boeing has received a $5.7 billion post-production contract to prepare the US Air Force’s new fleet of K-46 Pegasus refuelling tanker aircraft for combat capability, the Department of Defence announced in a press release.

"The Boeing Company [of] Seattle, Washington, has been awarded a $5,700,000,000… contract for KC-46 Pegasus Combat Capability (PC2)," the release stated on Monday. "This contract provides for a broad range of post-production related non-recurring and recurring requirements."

The US Air Force this year has twice suspended deliveries of Boeing's KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircraft after inspectors discovered foreign object debris in various closed compartments of the aircraft.

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During a House of Representatives Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces hearing on March 14, Dr Will Roper, the service's Assistant Secretary of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, told lawmakers that the discovery of debris was unacceptable.

The new KC-46 fleet is planned to replace the US Air Force’s ageing fleet of Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers.