12:47 GMT, December 30, 2008 NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. |NAVAIR’s Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office has just finalized a $136.1 million contract with the Boeing Company to buy two more C-40A Clippers.

“The team really came together and did an amazing job pushing this contract through. Our warfighters, the Navy and the Clipper community is better and stronger because of the efforts of this team,” said Capt. James Wallace, Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program manager (PMA207).

The Clipper’s provide long range, high priority logistical airlift in support of Fleet needs and can support humanitarian relief operations in the United States and around the world. They are equipped with a state-of-the-art “glass” cockpit, fuel efficient engines and fuel saving blended winglets.

These new aircraft are expected to be delivered in the first and second quarter of Fiscal Year 2011. The Navy has ordered and received nine Clippers, which are based at Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas (3), NAS Jacksonville, Fla. (3) and NAS North Island, Calif. (3). This order will push the Clipper fleet total to 11 aircraft, with six more remaining to be ordered. The Clippers are owned and flown by the Navy Reserve.

The Clipper is the Navy version of Boeing’s 737-700 commercial jet. It can carry either 121 passengers or eight pallets of cargo or a combination of both, 70 passengers and three pallets of cargo.

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The U.S. Navy began replacing its aging fleet of 29 C-9B Skytrain aircraft in 1997 and has ordered nine C-40s to date. The U.S. Naval Reserve will operate and maintain the aircraft.

The C-40A is a Boeing 737-700 aircraft certified to operate in three configurations:

* all-passenger configuration (121 passengers)
* all-cargo configuration (up to eight pallets)
* combination, or "combi," configuration (up to three cargo pallets and 70 passengers).

The C-40A already is setting new standards in performance, low-cost operations and reliability. The 737-700 builds on strengths that have made the 737 the world's most successful commercial airliner. With its superior range and performance, 777-type flight deck, updated avionics and fuel-efficient engines, the 737-700 aircraft increases the Navy's capability to meet its rapid airlift requirements

The 737-700 aircraft is manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Renton, Wash., before moving on to the company's Integrated Defense Systems facility in Wichita, Kan., where an FAA-certified kit is installed to provide the "combi" capability.

The Navy's C-40A fleet takes full advantage of the 737 aircraft's lifetime support services, including its comprehensive field service and spares distribution network.