WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Defense Department explained the order involves the retrofitting of F/A-18E/F and E/A-18G aircraft in support of the US Navy and the government of Australia.
"The Boeing Company [of] St. Louis, Missouri is being awarded [a] $7,952,558… order… for completion of engineering change proposal 6481, ‘Environmental Control System Controller Software Improvement,’" the release said on Monday.
The department is issuing a wave of contracts to upgrade the Navy’s aging F/A-18 fleet of Hornet and Super-Hornet jets, which has been in service for more than three decades. The Super-Hornet jet first flew in 1985.
President Donald Trump has asked Boeing to upgrade the F-18 Super-Hornet as far as it can to compensate for the continuing rising costs and development problems plaguing the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter that is supposed to succeed it.
