Boeing Wins $11.4 Million Navy Deal to Fix P-8A Autopilot Flaws
The Seattle aerospace giant will retrofit flight-control software on delivered P-8A aircraft, funded entirely by the Royal Australian Air Force, with work due in February 2028.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — The Boeing Co., the largest U.S. aerospace exporter, won an $11.4 million Navy order to fix autopilot deficiencies on the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, as announced on war.gov.
The cost-plus-fixed-fee order covers development, testing and delivery of enhanced digital flight-control software for operational retrofit on delivered aircraft, according to war.gov. Royal Australian Air Force funds of $11.4 million were obligated at the time of award, none of which expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The software updates target problems flagged during developmental and operational testing, according to war.gov. Engineers will address altitude-acquire issues, placard speed exceedances tied to a throttle-retard deficiency, pitch oscillations during airspeed climb and descent, and an unexpected mode switch from altitude acquire to vertical speed following a speed-command change. The work also covers slow auto-throttle response and bank-limit margin tuning.
Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and a leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems, according to iafastro.org. The company supports airlines and allied government customers in more than 150 countries. Founded in Seattle in 1916, Boeing keeps its biggest concentration of employees in Washington state, with more than 55,000 workers and roughly 1,500 supplier businesses in the state, according to seattlesouthsidechamber.com.
The deal serves a foreign buyer rather than the U.S. taxpayer. Australia flies the P-8A Poseidon for maritime surveillance and anti-submarine missions, and the retrofit keeps its delivered fleet aligned with corrected flight-control standards. Boeing benefits from sustainment revenue on aircraft already in service, while the Navy’s Patuxent River command manages the work as the contracting activity.
Work will be performed in Tukwila, Washington, and is expected to be completed in February 2028. The contract action was not competed, a common practice when the original manufacturer holds the proprietary design authority over the software.
The award ranks small against Boeing’s 2026 government book. It marks the 33rd contract awarded to Boeing this year, lifting the company’s total contract value for 2026 to $37.2 billion. The order is also the 19th Department of Defense contract booked in Washington state during 2026. It falls between the Navy portfolio’s year-to-date low of $9 million and its high of $8 billion, and it trails the company’s record single award of $25.4 billion. Twenty-two Department of Defense contracts were issued nationwide on July 31, 2026.
This has happened before. Aircraft manufacturers routinely return to fix software defects surfaced in flight testing, and the P-8A program has moved through successive capability upgrades since the type entered service. Retrofit orders like this one flow through the same basic ordering agreement that governs the aircraft’s sustainment work.
The Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Maryland, will oversee delivery and acceptance of the software. A date for the next decision has not been announced, though completion is scheduled for February 2028.
Software fixes on military aircraft have reshaped fleets before. Boeing traces its roots to July 15, 1916, when William E. Boeing founded the firm in Seattle, according to boeing.com. The company later merged with McDonnell Douglas on August 1, 1997, and by 2025 recorded $89.5 billion in revenue with 182,000 employees. Each expansion widened the installed base of aircraft that Boeing must keep current, a burden that turns quiet retrofit orders like this one into steady defense revenue long after delivery.
This contract represents the 33rd contract awarded to The Boeing Co., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $37,199,248,617. It is also the 19th Department of Defense contract awarded in Washington during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to The Boeing Co., whose record stands at $25,357,000,000, it is notable within the Navy portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Navy portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,046,496 and maximum of $8,000,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 22 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 31, 2026.
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