U.S. weapons maker Northrop Grumman Corp was awarded two modification to a previously awarded contracts worth about $47.9 million for support of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system, the U.S. Department of Defense said on Monday.

According to a statement released by the DoD, Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, is awarded $33,755,229 for firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N00019-19-F-0272 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026) in support of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system.

Under the first award, the company is awarded $33,7 million for delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement in support of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system. This order procures material kits and retrofits labor to incorporate the Integrated Functional Capability 4.0 configuration into retrofit aircraft and ground segments.

Work is expected to be completed in January 2022.

Under the second contract, Northrop Grumman is awarded $14,1 million for modification to a previously awarded contract in support of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system. This modification incorporates integrated functional capability 4.0 into low-rate initial production Lot 2 Aircraft B12.

Work is expected to be completed in November 2021.

The two modification are worth a combined total of $47.9 million.

In a recent announcement, the company stated that flying upwards of 55,000 feet for up to 24 hours at a time, Triton provides unprecedented, persistent 360-degree maritime domain awareness through vessel detection, classification, and tracking.

Triton aircraft can combine to fly an orbit, with one plane on the station and another en route, providing the Navy with near-constant coverage of huge swaths of ocean and littorals.