Boeing awarded $56.7M for Navy's T-45 aircraft support

Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Boeing has been awarded a $56.7 million contract for support of the Navy's T-45, a training aircraft that had problems with its oxygen system last year.

The contract will provide repairs, parts, engineering and management support, including integration of the on-board oxygen generation systems, environmental control systems and cockpit pressurization, the Department of Defense announced Monday.

Work is expected to be completed in January 2022, including 96.1 percent in St. Louis, Mo.

The contract was not competitively procured and funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued.

Boeing has manufactured the aircraft since 1997.

Last year there were problems with the oxygen system for the T-45s as well as F/A-18s, F-22s and F-35s in the U.S. Naval and Air Force fleet. The Navy frequently has grounded T-45 and F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

In October 2017, a T-45C Goshawk crashed in the Tellico plains of the Cherokee National Forest, some 45 miles southwest of Knoxville, killing two pilots.

The T-45C that crashed had its CRU-123 oxygen monitoring system installed in the spring to fix issues with the oxygen system.

The T-45, based on the airframe of the basic Hawk Mk 60, is tandem-seat pilot trainer that replaces the TA-4J Skyhawk and T-2C Buckeye.

It was modified from the British BAE Systems Hawk land-based training jet aircraft.