Boeing awarded $1.5B contract for Super Hornet aircraft for Kuwait

June 28 (UPI) -- Boeing has been awarded a $1.5 billion contract by the U.S. Navy for the production and delivery of 22 F/A-18E and six F/A-18F Super Hornets for the government of Kuwait.

The deal, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, comes under the terms of a fixed-price-incentive-firm contract.

Work will be performed primarily in El Segundo, California, and in multiple other cities across the Untied States and Canada. It is expected to be completed in January 2021.

The company was also awarded a $1.165 billion contract in April to provide engineering services, along with radar warning receivers and aircraft armament equipment, for production of the aircraft.

The program will bolster defensive capabilities for a major non-NATO ally, according to the State Department. The sale was first proposed in 2016, and aimed at spurring political and economic progress in the region.

The Boeing-made F/A-18 Hornet attack aircraft was the first strike fighter designed for the United States Armed Forces. The craft was built for both traditional strike operations, in addition to air support. Kuwait will use the aircraft for homeland defense and replacing aging aircraft.

Foreign military sales funds amounting to $1.5 billion will be obligated at the time of the award. None of the funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, the Pentagon said.