U.S. aviation giant Boeing has been awarded a $8.6 billion contract for the F-15 Israeli Program, the Pentagon announced on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida.

"This contract provides for the design, integration, instrumentation, test, production and delivery of 25 new F-15IA aircraft for the Israeli Air Force with an option for an additional 25 F-15IA aircraft," the Pentagon said.

The contract involves foreign military sales to the State of Israel and was awarded as a sole-source acquisition, the Pentagon added. The U.S. has long been by far the largest arms supplier to its closest Middle East ally.

Contract work will be performed in St. Louis and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2035, the statement said.

Pro-Palestinian and anti-war protesters around the U.S. had demanded an end to Washington's military support for Israel due to its devastating assault on Gaza, but those demands have not been met in the administrations of Trump and former President Joe Biden.