L-3, Boeing Team Awarded $2B Cargo Plane Deal

A transatlantic team led by L-3 Communications has won a $2 billion contract to build a new cargo aircraft fleet, the U.S. Defense Department said on Wednesday.

The winning team includes Boeing and Alenia North America, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica. It beat Raytheon and its partner, Europe's EADS, for the contract.

The Army and the Air Force have been approved for an initial purchase of 78 aircraft -- 54 for the Army and 24 for the Air Force through 2013, said Lt. Col. Carl Ey, an Army spokesman.