The Air Force said Friday it expects to release the draft request for proposals (RFP) for its F-16 radar modernization program on, or near, Aug. 1.

The service also said in a pre-solicitation notice posted on Federal Business Opportunities it is working to finalize an Industry Day on, or near, Aug. 22-23, 2012. Additionally, the Air Force said it intends to provide interested parties with key information that will assist in planning and preparation.

The Air Force wants to upgrade its F-16 radars with advanced electronically-scanned radars to bridge a capability gap until the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter arrives. Currently, the service has mechanically-scanned radars on its F-16s, which are developed by Lockheed Martin [LMT].

Raytheon [RTN] will offer its Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR) in the U.S., Taiwan and South Korea competitions while Northrop Grumman [NOC] will offer its Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR).

RACR’s advantages include being designed as a “drop-in” upgrade to F-16s and Boeing’s [BA] legacy F/A-18 to minimize aircraft modification time and aircrew transition training, the company said in a statement.

Northrop Grumman’s SABR is a full-performance, fire control AESA radar designed for retro fit in current F-16s and other legacy fighter, attack and training aircraft. Compared to mechanically scanned array radars, SABR provides increased performance, multi-functionality and greater reliability inherent in AESA radars, the company said in a statement.

One big advantage of AESA radars over legacy mechanically-scanned radars is AESA radars do the work for the pilot while also tracking multiple targets at once, both airborne and land-based targets. With mechanically-scanned radars, pilots have to maneuver both the plane and radar together to track their target and then decide what to do while maneuvering the electronics.