BIRMINGHAM, England—Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Ltd. said it has reached one of the biggest deals in its 105-year history: It will supply tires to the world's fleet of more than 270 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft.
The eight-year agreement with Boeing will calls for Dunlop to provide new and retread tires for the C-17's main and nose wheels. Each aircraft has 14 wheels—12 on the main landing gear and two on the nose. Boeing said it will need about 10,000 new and retread tires each year to support its worldwide fleet.
The deal includes supporting aircraft operated by forces from Australia, Canada, India, NATO, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Boeing said that the U.S. Air Force, which flies more than 220 of the aircraft, is the largest operator.
“This major contract is excellent news for the company,” Dunlop's chairman, Ian Edmondson said in a statement. “In winning it, we faced significant competition from other manufacturers.
“Additional new tire and retread capacity has been added to support this important new contract and, following successful completion of the flight testing, we are now supplying tires to Boeing.”
Randy Liedahl, Boeing's supply chain technical lead engineer, called Dunlop Aircraft Tyres “very proactive and thorough supplier and partner to the Boeing Company.
“The development of the new C-17 Tyres went remarkably quickly from prototype to the final qualification test articles. We have completed final flight testing and have now received the first tire deliveries for our customers,” he said in a statement.
Dunlop recently announced that it is building its first U.S. distribution and retreading facility, at a site in Mocksville, N.C., so it may serve customers throughout the Americas. Dunlop previously said as long as the site gets final approval, the plant should open in early 2016.
The plan is to create at least 40 jobs within the first two years of operation, with more likely to follow as the operation grows its presence in the market.