Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract to support the U.S. Air Force's Global Positioning System modernization.

Under the $4.8 million contract, awarded by the Joint Service Systems Management Office, Northrop Grumman will evaluate new GPS receivers, including M-Code and Selective Availability Anti-spoofing Module.

The new receivers are being developed under the Military GPS User Equipment program as part of an effort to improve secure transmissions of accurate military signals, improving communication among the U.S. Armed Forces.

"We are honored to help shape the next generation of navigation systems that will modernize the GPS infrastructure and keep our warfighters safer," Northrop Grumman navigation and position systems vice president Bob Mehltretter said in a statement. "We are committed to using our navigation systems expertise to develop a solution that offers dependable and accurate positioning, navigation and timing information."

The updated GPS navigation systems are designed to comply with the Federal Aviation Administration's NextGen air traffic control requirements, which mandate aircraft flying at higher altitudes be equipped with Automatic Dependence Surveillance-Broadcast Out by January 2020.

The new system is scheduled to be ready for integration in 2018.