France agreed to buy three AWACS aircraft.

The French government signed a $550-million contract with Boeing to buy the three early warning radar aircraft, with an eight-month option to buy two more, Andre Giraud, the country’s defense minister, announced. The airborne warning and control system aircraft are to enter service at the end of 1990 or early 1991, Giraud said. He told a press conference that Boeing agreed in return for the French purchase to buy French aircraft engines and defense-related aerospace equipment.