Northrop Grumman, the developer of the Air Force’s current bomber, the B-2, beat out a partnership between aeronautic juggernauts Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the right to build the next generation of long-range aircraft. Work on the new plane would also benefit subcontractors in the region, which has been hard hit by defense spending cuts. When operational, the new bombers will join the fleet of 20 B-2 stealth bombers, of which only 11 or 12 are available to deploy at any given time, the Air Force said last month. Pentagon accountants estimate each bomber will cost $790 million, including development costs.
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Northrop Grumman has expanded the contract with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), under which the firm will continue to provide logistics support for RAAF’s F/A-18 Hornet Target Designation Systems.
The Air Force is planning to use a fixed-price contract for production of the aircraft, but it will use a cost-plus contract for the initial engineering and manufacturing development phase of the program. Asked how much money has been spent on the program already, they said only that Congress has appropriated $1.9 billion between Fiscal Years 2011 and 2015.
Aerospace giant Northrop Grumman Corp. has won an intense four-year long competition to build the nation’s new fleet of long-range stealth bombers, a project likely to create thousands of jobs in Southern California.
The contest pits Boeing and Lockheed, the two largest United States defence companies, against far-smaller Northrop, which manufactured the B-2.
The Air Force has said it plans to leverage existing technologies to help keep the LRS-B affordable. “We face a complex security environment”, she said.
Boeing and Lockheed worked together on their unsuccessful bid for one of the Pentagon’s biggest weapons systems of the next decade. Had the company lost the LRS-B contract, elements could have been sold off to the highest bidder, says Teal Group vice-president and consultant Richard Aboulafia.
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The Boeing/Lockheed team still has the option of protesting the contract award. A debriefing to both companies is required within 10 calendar days.
