TUKWILA, Wash. - The Boeing Company in Arlington, Va., has been awarded a potential $156.2 million U.S. Navy contract for engine build-up and quick engine change kits to support spare-engine requirements for P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and C-40A Clipper transport aircraft.
The firm-fixed-price, economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract provides for up to 31 P-8A engine build-up kits, including 18 for the Navy and 13 for Foreign Military Sales customers. The contract also provides for up to two Quick Engine Change kits for C-40A aircraft.
The P-8A kits include associated components and hardware required to mate and integrate CFM56-7B27AE core engines. The C-40A kits include components, mating hardware, and attaching hardware required to integrate CFM56-7B24E core engines and create complete spare engines, according to the Department of Defense (DoD).
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Addressing engine shortfalls
The procurement supports an existing Navy requirement for P-8A engine spares. The Navy's fiscal 2026 budget justification says the P-8A engine inventory remains short and identifies the CFM56-7B27 engine as a specific engine-spares requirement. The Navy says demonstrated CFM56-7B27 time on wing is approximately 6,000 hours, compared with a projected 10,000 hours based on commercial use and models.
The Navy also says the P-8A engine-spares requirement includes both the bare CFM56-7B27 engine and the engine build-up kit that provides the parts necessary to install the engine on the aircraft. The service says the engine inventory shortage resulted in part from an increase in the P-8A program of record and the addition of 11 aircraft since the previous spare-engine model was run.
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Engine build-up and quick engine change kits provide the aircraft-specific hardware needed to integrate a CFM56 core engine with the applicable aircraft configuration. NAVAIR market-research documents identify Boeing as the intended sole-source manufacturer for P-8A and C-40A QEC and EBU kits and identify kit configurations including QECNG737 and EBUKIT2018 and EBUKIT2019.
NAVAIR's May 2026 market-research notice sought industry feedback on QEC and EBU kits for P-8A, C-40, and E-7A aircraft and identified Boeing as the intended sole-source manufacturer. The notice was a market-research action, not a formal solicitation.
The contract has a potential value of $156,201,219 and runs through August 2031. No funds were obligated at award; funding will be provided through individual orders issued under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.
Work will be performed in Tukwila, Wash. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
