Boeing on Tuesday delivered the first of Qatar’s C-17 transports to the Middle East nation’s air force during a ceremony at the company’s facility in Long Beach, Calif. Qatar signed a contract with Boeing in July 2008 for two C-17s, the second of which will be delivered later this year, Boeing said in a release. The Middle East nation also has an option, not yet exercised, to procure two additional C-17s. The company still has international orders to provide two more C-17s to the strategic airlift capability consortium comprising several NATO and NATO partnership for peace countries and four for the United Arab Emirates. The company also has 16 more C-17s to deliver to the US Air Force to complete the 205-aircraft order to date. USAF will be able to buy eight more on top of that, for a total of 213, with funds provided in the 2009 war supplemental. And, depending on the outcome of Fiscal 2010 defense spending legislation, there may be funding for C-17s beyond the 213.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.