Story highlights The aircraft will be manufactured at a Boeing plant in Missouri

The announcement is likely to be welcomed by the Qatari government

(CNN) The Pentagon announced Friday that Boeing had been awarded a $6 billion contract to sell 36 F-15 fighter jets to Qatar.

The aircraft will be manufactured at a Boeing plant in St. Louis, Missouri and are expected to be delivered to Qatar by the end of 2022.

"This contract provides for the foreign military sales requirement to procure 36 new F-15QA aircraft for the Qatar Emiri Air Force," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The contract's announcement is likely to be welcomed by the Qatari government and comes amid an ongoing diplomatic row between Qatar and a number of its Gulf neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

The countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, a charge Doha denies.

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