Boeing awarded $500M for Qatari Air Force F-15QA aircrew and maintenance training

Boeing has won a maximum $500 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity contract to provide aircrew and maintenance training for Qatar's fleet of F-15QA fighter aircraft.

The work will be performed in St. Louis, MO, shift to Qatar in 2021 and finish in August 2026, according to a Defense Department contract notice issued Aug. 28. Boeing is receiving $262 million at the time of the award.

Qatar ordered 36 F-15QAs for $6.2 billion in an undefinitized contract action that was completed in December 2017. The final aircraft is expected for delivery in 2022.

The latest award for aircrew and maintenance training is not the only contract Boeing has received to support Qatar’s F-15QA purchase. In October 2018, the company received a firm-fixed-price contract worth $30 million to provide aircrew and maintenance courseware, syllabi, a student tracking system and program management. That work is expected to finish by December 2022.

The State Department originally approved a possible sale of 72 F-15QAs to the Qatari Air Force in November 2016.

“The proposed sale improves Qatar's capability to meet current and future enemy air-to-air and air-to-ground threats,” a Defense Security Cooperation Agency notice stated at the time. “Qatar will use the capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense. Qatar will have no difficulty absorbing these aircraft into its armed forces.”

In November 2017, the State Department also approved a possible sale worth $1.1 billion to Qatar for construction, cybersecurity and force protection infrastructure to support its F-15QA program.