ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The US Department of Defense has awarded a contract worth over $252 million for base support services for Iraq's F-16 fighter jets to Vectrus Systems LLC., a Colorado-based defense contractor.

"Vectrus Systems LLC., Colardo Springs, Colorado, was awarded a $252,050,925 cost-plus fixed-fee indefinite contract action for base support services in support of the Iraq F-16 program," the Pentagon wrote in a statement dated November 21. "This contract provides for base operating support, base life support, and security services."

"Work will be performed at Martyr BG Ali Flaih Air Base, Iraq, and is expected to be complete by September 24, 2026," the statement continued.

Based in Salahaddin province, the airbase, formerly known as Balad Air Base, is home to Iraq's fighter jets, which play a vital role in maintaining the security of the country's airspace and in targeting subversive actors with airstrikes, notably remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS).

The Iraqi Air Force received its US-made F-16 fighter jet in 2014, coming after a years-long acquisition process that came to be hastened as the country struggled with the emergence of ISIS as a stark territorial threat in the same year. They currently operate 34 such jets.

First mulled by the US in 2010, the Pentagon at the time said that the deal would "contribute to the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by enhancing the capability of Iraq" and "allow the Iraqi Air Force to modernize its air force by acquiring western interoperable fighter aircraft, thereby enabling Iraq to support both its own air defense needs and coalition operations."

A staple of air forces deemed allies of Washington, F-16 fighter jets have been in operation since the 1970s and is currently the most common fixed-wing jet operated in military service across the globe.

Baghdad has repeatedly employed its F-16 fleet to conduct airstrikes against ISIS cells operating across the country. On October 9, Iraqi jets bombed a suspected ISIS hideout in southern Kirkuk’s Wadi al-Shay, "completely destroying it and killing the terrorist elements inside."