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Boeing, Lockheed contracted for Apache work, Hellfire missiles for Saudi Arabia

By Allen Cone
A U.S. Army Apache helicopter returns from a maintenance test flight on August 17, 2018, at Katterbach Army Airfield in Ansbach, Germany. Photo by Charles Rosemond/U.S. Army
1 of 2 | A U.S. Army Apache helicopter returns from a maintenance test flight on August 17, 2018, at Katterbach Army Airfield in Ansbach, Germany. Photo by Charles Rosemond/U.S. Army

April 30 (UPI) -- Boeing and Lockheed have been awarded contracts worth more than $70 million for support of AH-64 Apache helicopters and Hellfire guided missiles for Saudi Arabia.

The Defense Department announced the separate deals Monday.

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Boeing was awarded a $39.5 foreign military sales contract for post-production system support, which includes integrated product support, of the AH-64 twin-turboshaft attack helicopters in support of the Saudi Arabia National Guard.

Work will be performed at Boeing's plant in Mesa, Ariz., as well as Hazelwood, Mo., and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The estimated completion date is April 29, 2020, with the full amount of the contract obligated from fiscal 2019 foreign military sales funds at the time of award.

Boeing has had a relationship with the kingdom since 1945, when U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented a twin-engine DC-3 Dakota airplane, manufactured by Boeing heritage company Douglas Aircraft, to King Abdulaziz Al Saud. In 1982, the company established Boeing Middle East Limited in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

Lockheed Martin has had a presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 1965 with the first delivery of the C-130 Hercules.

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Lockheed's new $30.8 million foreign military sales contract is for Hellfire guided missile launcher and electronic assembly. The Hellfire can be fired from rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, waterborne vessels and land-based systems.

Work will be performed at Lockheed's plant in Orlando with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2023. The full amount of the contract has been obligated to Lockheed at the time of award, coming from fiscal 2010, 2011, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Army funds, as well as foreign military sales funds.

Earlier this month, Lockheed was awarded an additional $2.5 billion contract to begin work on production of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors for Saudi Arabia as part of a $15 billion for the defensive ballistic missile systems.

President Donald Trump announced a proposed 10-year $350 billion defense deal with Saudi Arabia during his first full year in office in 2017 when he met with King Mohammed bin Salman.

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