SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Top American aircraft manufacturer Boeing Company has won a new contract from the U.S. Air Force worth 9.2 billion U.S. dollars to build advanced trainer jets for Air Force units, the company said Thursday.
Under the new defense deal, Boeing will build 351 training aircraft and 120 ground-based training systems, including 46 simulators and associated ground equipment, for the Air Force through 2034.
The new sophisticated training system will help train fighter and bomber pilots of the Air Force for generations to come, and Boeing is the designated prime contractor for the Advanced Pilot Training Program.
Boeing is teaming up with Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab Group as its risk-sharing partner on this project to develop the 351 trainers.
Saab said in a statement Thursday that an initial 813 million dollar contract awarded to Boeing will fund the engineering and manufacturing development of the first five aircraft and seven simulators.
Boeing said the training program contract will create more than 17,000 jobs in 34 states.
The training program deal is the third defense contract that Boeing has from the Air Force after it defeated Lockheed Martin Corp., which beat Boeing in the joint strike fighter contest to build F-35 fighters in 2001.
Boeing lost a bid for the manufacturing of stealth bombers for the Air Force in a competition against Northrop Grumman Corp. in 2015.
