Harris Canada has landed a $273.8-million contract to maintain the avionics of Canadian Forces CF-18 fighter jets until the planes are retired in 2020. (Canadian Press/Tom Hanson)The federal government has awarded a $273.8-million contract to the Canadian subsidiary of U.S.-based Harris Corporation to help keep the Canadian Forces CF-18 fighter aircraft operational until 2020.

Under the contract announced Sunday, Harris Canada Inc. in Calgary will provide avionics maintenance for the CF-18s until they are replaced by the F-35 Lightning II. The government announced in July that it is purchasing 65 F-35s from Lockheed Martin at a cost of $9 billion, with deliveries to begin in 2016.

The nine-year Harris contract — which, unlike the F-35 purchase, the government said was competitively tendered — covers repair, overhaul, engineering, management and support for almost 2,300 components that make up the electronic systems aboard each CF-18.

The government said the work will maintain 40 full-time jobs in Calgary until the CF-18s are retired in 2020.

"This announcement is another example of the government of Canada's support for the Canadian aerospace industry, and our commitment to creating jobs in a region with important aerospace capabilities," said Public Works and Government Services Minister Rona Ambrose.

Harris Corp., a communications and information technology company headquartered in Melbourne, Fla., has about 15,000 employees in 90 countries, and earned $562 million US on revenue of $5.2 billion US in its most recent financial year, which ended in July.