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Aug. 14, 2018 / 9:48 AM

Boeing tapped to upgrade F/A-18s for Blue Angels

The Navy's Blue Angels are due to receive new F/A-18E and F/A-18F aircraft, the Pentagon announced on Monday.

Five of the U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet Blue Angels from Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida, fly beside a 434th Air Refueling Wing KC-135R Stratotanker over the Midwest on July 25, 2018. Photo by Staff Sgt. Katrina Heikkinen

Five of the U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet Blue Angels from Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida, fly beside a 434th Air Refueling Wing KC-135R Stratotanker over the Midwest on July 25, 2018. Photo by Staff Sgt. Katrina Heikkinen

Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Boeing has received a $17 million order against a previously issued agreement for Blue Angel F/A-18 conversions.

This order, announced Monday by the Department of Defense, is for retrofitting, kits and documentation to convert nine F/A-18E and two F/A-18F fighters into a Blue Angel aerial demonstration team configuration.

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Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Navy fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $17 million will be obligated at time of award.

The Blue Angels, established in 1946, are an aerial acrobatic demonstration team formed of Naval and Marine aviators. They were first established in 1946.

The Blue Angels have flown a variety of aircraft since their establishment, and started flying F/A-18 variants in 1986. Since 2010, the squadron has been flying the F/A-18 Hornet C/D and are now starting an upgrade to the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet.

The F/A-18 series of multirole fighters is capable of operating from airstrips and aircraft carriers. It is designed for both air-superiority missions and land attack, and can carry a variety of ordnance ranging from air-to-air missiles and precision-guided bombs and standoff munitions.

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