MESA - Boeing's plant here has won a $1.15 billion contract from the government to build 126 Apache helicopters over the next three years.
The deal – confirmed Tuesday by state officials, city and business leaders, as well as industry officials – calls for Boeing to overhaul older Apache helicopters with millions of dollars in technology upgrades.
The U.S. Army would receive 96 helicopters while 30 would be delivered to a foreign military.
The contract is part of an ongoing effort by the Defense Department to modernize its fleet of roughly 700 Apache attack helicopters, a workhorse in Iraq and Afghanistan.
With the company's next major defense manufacturing contract pushed back until 2010, the new contract means that Boeing could stem any potential layoffs of its 4,700 workers at Falcon Field Airport and avoid halting business with local contractors.
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