Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $1 billion contract for work on radar systems for the U.S. Air Force's F-16 aircraft, the Department of Defense announced.

The contract, announced Thursday, funds development and production of up to 372 active electronically scanned array radars -- computer-controlled antennae in which the beam of radio waves can be steered to point in different directions without physically moving the antenna.

The upgrades of AESA radars on the F-16 have been years in the making, as the Air Force has tested them. The goal, Air Force officials say, is to bring the F-16s abilities closer to those of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.

A little more than $679,000 is obligated at the time of the award. The total cumulative value of the contract is $291.2 million.

Work will be performed at Northrop Grumman's Lunthicum Heights, Maryland worksite and will be completed by May 2027.

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