Boeing gets new contract for replacement wings for A-10 jets
INDIAN SPRINGS, NV - SEPTEMBER 14: An A-10 Thunderbolt flies by during a U.S. Air Force firepower demonstration at the Nevada Test and Training Range September 14, 2007 near Indian Springs, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing a contract for replacement wings for more than 100 A-10 jets, covering the remaining ground support jets still needing wing replacements.
A Boeing statement said the contract could pay up to $999 million for up to 112 wing sets and spare kits.
Boeing delivered 173 wing assemblies under a previous contract, and the Air Force recently finishing installing them on A-10s. Most of that work was done at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
Arizona Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who flew A-10s while an Air Force pilot and who has supported providing aging A-10s with new wings, said the contract will allow the aircraft to fly well into the 2030s.
The 355th Fighter Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson has 83 A-10s.