Northrop Wins Contract to Build US Military’s Future Stealth Bomber

Under this contract, the company will be responsible to continue development, modernisation, retrofit, and sustainment activities for the aircraft.

“Every bomber base is going to try to get Long-Range Strike”, said Brian Yates, vice president for military affairs at the Abilene Chamber of Commerce.

“Over the past century, no nation has used air power to accomplish its global reach – to compress time and space – like the United States”, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during a Pentagon briefing announcing the contract. Costs for the B-2 skyrocketed to $US2.2 billion apiece as a projected fleet of 132 bombers was slashed to 21 after the Cold War ended. The military expects to need 80 to 100 planes.

RBC Capital Management analyst Robert Stallard’s initial take suggested that the LRS-B win could add as much as $1 billion to Northrop’s 2018 revenue. A few defense insiders say the alliance came about because neither of the erstwhile competitors thought it could beat Northrop on its own. Northrop Grumman had been competing against Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the deal, which will value the aircraft at about a half billion dollars each.

For the defense companies who sought the contract, the stakes were high.

The Air Force expects the first Long Range Strike Bombers to be ready for combat by 2025.

“We need to keep the Long-Range Strike Bomber on track and hold the Pentagon to its promise of delivering a tested, reliable airplane for $550 million a copy”, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said in a written statement.

This new plane, which is expected to enter the fleet in the mid 2020’s would initially have a conventional-only bombing role, but it will eventually have nuclear capabilities. An unmanned model may follow.

“The Air Force has made the right decision for our nation’s security”, Bush said.

Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, said he was “excited at the possibilities this contract holds for California”.

“As a leader in aerospace, research and education, I look forward to working to bring as many of these jobs to the region as possible”, O’Donnell said. Lockheed and Boeing have other warplanes in service or under development.