ST. LOUIS, April 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has awarded Boeing [NYSE: BA] a five-year $427 million sole-source contract to provide and manage consumable material for F/A-18 depot maintenance with the option for five additional years. This is an extension of the DLA/Boeing Captains of Industry program and the program's first depot contract supporting the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, bringing the value of the program to $3.2 billion.
Boeing will provide consumable materials used for structural repair and modification of legacy F/A-18 Hornets at five U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps depots and the Boeing Cecil Field Site in Jacksonville, Florida. Boeing field service representatives will be co-located at these sites to provide technical support and expertise.
"Through this contract we will improve material availability and resolve technical issues quickly to alleviate long lead times on parts, helping our customers to reduce cycle times on aircraft maintenance," said Rick Robinson, Director of Boeing Global Supply Chain Services. "We are proud to work with the DLA, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps to keep legacy Hornets ready for critical missions."
Currently, there are two programs to repair aging F/A-18 A-D Hornets:
- Planned Maintenance Interval – 1 (PMI-1) is an extensive, comprehensive inspection, repair, and rework of the aircraft, which consists of both specific targeted areas and zonal inspections of critical areas.
- High Flight Hour (HFH) is a series of inspections and modifications to extend the life of the aircraft from 6,000 hours to 10,000 hours.
The DLA Captains of Industry program leverages Boeing's capabilities and relationships with suppliers to improve material availability, provide onsite technical support and engineering support, which will reduce aircraft maintenance cycle time and get the aircraft back to the war fighter faster.