Boeing Awarded $213 Million Navy Deal to Reconfigure Four P-8A Jets for Foreign Buyer

The Seattle plane maker received a not-to-exceed $213 million modification to redesign four P-8A maritime patrol aircraft for a Foreign Military Sales customer, with $74.9 million obligated at award.

First Published: July 28, 2026, 1:18 PM ET

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — The Boeing Co., the Seattle plane maker that ranks among the largest U.S. defense contractors, received a not-to-exceed $213 million contract modification to reconfigure four P-8A maritime patrol aircraft for a foreign buyer, as announced on war.gov.

The award, designated modification P00010 to an undefinitized cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, adds engineering work to tailor the jets to a Foreign Military Sales customer’s operational requirements. The Navy disclosed the deal in a contract notice dated July 28, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET. Foreign Military Sales customer funds of $74.9 million will be obligated at the time of award.

The modification covers non-recurring engineering to support the reconfiguration of aircraft the customer previously purchased. Work will run through December 2031, split between Seattle, Washington, at 91% and Huntington Beach, California, at 9%. Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Maryland, serves as the contracting activity. The Navy did not compete the contract.

The P-8A Poseidon is a militarized derivative of Boeing’s 737 airliner, built for anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and maritime reconnaissance. Reconfiguring aircraft already in a foreign fleet lets a customer align mission systems with national requirements without buying new airframes. That step keeps Boeing’s production and engineering lines in the Pacific Northwest active.

The deal marks the sixth contract awarded to Boeing in 2026, lifting the company’s total contract value for the year to roughly $1.3 billion, according to war.gov. It is the seventh Department of Defense contract booked in Washington state during 2026. The award ranks below Boeing’s record single contract of $880 million, and it sits within the 2026 Navy portfolio’s year-to-date range of about $9 million to $8 billion, according to war.gov.

For a general reader, the transaction shows how U.S. arms exports translate into domestic engineering jobs. The vast majority of the work stays in Washington state, where Boeing’s commercial and defense operations anchor the regional economy, while a smaller share flows to Southern California.

Boeing has secured foreign P-8A work before. Nations including Australia, the United Kingdom, Norway, New Zealand and South Korea have purchased the Poseidon through the Foreign Military Sales channel, and follow-on engineering modifications are a recurring feature of those programs. This award continues a familiar pattern of adapting delivered aircraft rather than a first-of-its-kind procurement.

Naval Air Systems Command will manage the next steps, including definitizing the contract and setting final terms. The Navy did not announce a date for definitization, and the engineering effort is scheduled for completion by December 2031.

Boeing’s ties to naval aviation stretch back more than a century, and the company’s fortunes have long risen and fallen with Pentagon spending. It absorbed McDonnell Douglas in 1997 in a deal valued near $13 billion, folding in the maker of the F/A-18 Hornet and expanding its military portfolio. That merger reshaped the U.S. aerospace industry into a handful of prime contractors. It positioned Boeing to build the 737-based platforms that later became the P-8A, cementing the company’s role as a leading supplier of maritime patrol aircraft to allied navies.

This contract represents the 6th contract awarded to The Boeing Co., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $1,274,276,378. It is also the 7th Department of Defense contract awarded in Washington during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to The Boeing Co., whose record stands at $880,000,000, it is notable within the Navy portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Navy portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,046,496 and maximum of $8,000,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 5 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 28, 2026.