Check Please

By Marcus Weisgerber / October 25, 2010 at 7:10 PM

As the old saying goes: Better late than never. Boeing and the Air Force finally hammed out the termination details of the E-10 multimission intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, which has resulted in the defense giant crediting the service $30 million.

While the official cancellation of the E-10 program came three years ago today, the two parties finalized it last week. “The Air Force is finalizing a termination for convenience of the government with The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., for -$64,652,791,” an Oct. 22 contract announcement states. “The modification will result in a credit to the government of $30,052,79.”

The E-10 was supposed to be a Boeing 767-based aircraft that would replace the E-3 Sentry, the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System and the RC-135 Rivet Joint. In 2003, the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman, Boeing and Raytheon a $215 million pre-system development and demonstration contract for E-10 aircraft and related integration work. As part of that contract, the service ordered a “green” 767 airliner.

But the service scaled the program back and eventually canceled the entire effort in 2007. As Inside the Air Force reported in August 2006:

Air Force officials are mulling plans to terminate the E-10A program as the service continues work on its fiscal year 2008 budget request, according to sources with knowledge of the thinking of service brass. The possibility of placing the embattled command and control aircraft program on the chopping block comes as service and Pentagon officials are looking to trim expenses. The Air Force, in its FY-07 budget blueprint, eliminated procurement funds for the E-10A program but left in place research and development dollars. Those R&D dollars were slated to be used for work on at least one E-10A plane, a plan that now appears in jeopardy, sources say.

After canceling the E-10 program, the 767 sat at a Boeing facility in Washington State for several years. In 2009, Flight Global reported that the government of Bahrain would acquire the aircraft for VIP transport.

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