Lockheed Martin has competitively selected Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) for the U.S. Air Force and Taiwan F-16 radar modernization and upgrade programs.

Work on the F-16 AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar program will be performed at Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector headquarters facility in Linthicum.

"The F-16 has been a front-line fighter for the Air Force for more than 30 years, and SABR will keep it there for decades to come. We built on our rich heritage of active electronically scanned array innovation to deliver fifth generation fighter radar capability to the F-16.

SABR will provide F-16s unprecedented operational capability, greater reliability and viability in threat environments beyond 2025," said Joseph Ensor, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's ISR and Targeting Systems Division.

"The conclusion of the AESA radar competition marks the next chapter in the Fighting Falcon's ongoing evolution - the F-16V," said Roderick McLean, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's F-16/F-22 Integrated Fight Group.

"This next generation radar will deliver unprecedented capabilities to the most widely used 4th generation fighter ever flown."

Northrop Grumman's newest airborne fire control radar, SABR is an affordable, multifunction AESA radar designed for low risk retrofit in current F-16s and is scalable for integration in other aircraft.

SABR provides improved situational awareness, greater detection, high-resolution SAR maps, automatic target cueing, electronic protection, interleaved air-to-air and air-to-surface mode operations, and all-environment precision strike capability.

"SABR's affordability, proven performance, and low risk make it the natural choice as the baseline AESA radar for new F-16 production aircraft and upgrades worldwide," noted Ensor.

Other AESA radars developed by the company are currently flying on the Block 60 F-16, F-22 and F-35 Lightning II.