The Boeing Co. has told the government it needs a firm commitment for orders of its C-17 military cargo jet by August or it will have to begin the long process of shutting down the jet’s production program.

The Long Beach facility has been open and producing C-17s for nearly 20 years. According to Rick Sanford, a spokesman for Boeing, the former manufacturing site of the DC-10 airliner provides more than 12,000 full-time jobs and creates almost $4 billion a year in business for the state. There are also 350 suppliers and service providers that will be affected if the plant shuts down. Last week’s announcement marks Boeing’s most public and specific deadline yet in an ongoing saga the aerospace giant has been engaged in with the Defense Department and Congress over the past two years. The facility produces 15 of the $220-million jets each year and only has funding to keep it open until 2008.