Air Force awards contracts worth $374 million

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The Air Force awarded Boeing Co. a pair of contracts, worth a combined $341.3 million, to buy two C-17 transport aircraft.

The Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base issued the contracts. They call for the planes to be delivered by the end of November 2012 and the end of May 2013, respectively. Boeing is to do the work at its Long Beach, Calif., facility.

Separately, the Air Force Research Laboratory awarded a $32.8 million, 10-year contract to Science Applications International Corp. for research and development involving laser radar, laser sources, electro-optical sensors and a simulation laboratory. The work is to be done at Wright-Patterson and be completed by June 18, 2022.