(Reuters) – Boeing Co (BA.N) has won an initial contract worth $296 million to buy parts needed for production of 12 more P-8A spy planes, including eight for the U.S. Navy and four for the government of Australia, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

The contract, which kicks off funding for a second batch of full-rate production jets, runs through April 2018, the Defense Department said in its daily digest of major weapons contracts.

Boeing won a $2.1 billion contract in February to build the first batch of 16 P-8A Poseidon long-range maritime spy planes for the Navy, which came on top of $300 million in funds awarded earlier for certain materials that take longer to procure, such as titanium.

The aircraft, based on Boeing’s 737-800 commercial aircraft, will replace the U.S. Navy’s P-3 spy planes, which have been in service for more than 40 years.

 

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal. Editing by Andre Grenon)

Photo: Rob Vogelaar Z.A.P.P