Boeing's Delivery of New Aerial Tankers to Air Force Will Be Delayed

By Doug Cameron 

Boeing Co. said Friday that first deliveries of the new aerial tanker it's building for the U.S. Air Force will be delayed by five months, reflecting problems that have already forced it to take around $1.5 billion in charges.

The aerospace company had maintained it could meet its contractual commitment to deliver 18 of the KC-46 jets, modeled on its 767 passenger plane, to the Air Force by August 2017, despite delays in the plane's first flight and other design and technical problems.

Boeing said Friday that the Air Force had pushed back its final decision on buying the first batch of tankers until August, having originally planned to approve a deal in June.

Boeing said the first jet will now be delivered to the Air Force in August 2017 rather than March of next year, with the last of the first batch arriving in January 2018.

The company plans to build an initial 179 of the aerial tankers for the Air Force, but hopes it can sell around 400 world-wide.

Boeing didn't mention in its statement whether the latest delay would trigger further charges.

Write to Doug Cameron at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 27, 2016 15:13 ET (19:13 GMT)

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