Boeing on Tuesday delivered the first of Qatar’s C-17 transports to the Middle East nation’s air force during a ceremony at the company’s facility in Long Beach, Calif. Qatar signed a contract with Boeing in July 2008 for two C-17s, the second of which will be delivered later this year, Boeing said in a release. The Middle East nation also has an option, not yet exercised, to procure two additional C-17s. The company still has international orders to provide two more C-17s to the strategic airlift capability consortium comprising several NATO and NATO partnership for peace countries and four for the United Arab Emirates. The company also has 16 more C-17s to deliver to the US Air Force to complete the 205-aircraft order to date. USAF will be able to buy eight more on top of that, for a total of 213, with funds provided in the 2009 war supplemental. And, depending on the outcome of Fiscal 2010 defense spending legislation, there may be funding for C-17s beyond the 213.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.