The U.S. Air Force announced October 27 that it has chosen Northrop Grumman over a Boeing-Lockheed Martin team to develop and build a new long-range bomber aircraft at a cost of $80 billion.
Advertisement
“Northrop’s victory in the bomber competition is a stunning upset, that demonstrates an underdog can still beat the best-endowed team in the industry”, says Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute. The first aircraft are due to enter service around 2025.
The independent analyses were conducted by the Air Force’s cost analysis agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s cost assessment and program evaluation group, which produced estimates within two percent of each other, officials said.
The Air Force’s selection of Northrop Grumman to build a next-generation bomber may run into flak from contract-losers Lockheed Martin and Boeing. The lucrative bomber contract is one of the largest in Air Force history.
Bill Hennigan, the Pentagon correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO the move could translate into as many as 6,500 jobs for the region.
His comments seem to indicate that Northrop Grumman might have submitted a bid that was acceptable from a financial as well as technical perspective.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the LRS-B “will allow the Air Force to operate in tomorrow’s high end threat environment, what we call anti-access aerial denial environment”.
The Air Force, under its contract with Northrop, will buy 100 of the new bombers at a newly calculated average cost of $564 million each.
Officials have not disclosed the specifics of the new LRS-B, though CNN reports, there are indications that it’ll have stealth capabilities. That project has gained little public notice, although a former defense secretary, William Perry, drew attention inside the Pentagon earlier this month when he argued publicly that cruise missiles are a “uniquely destabilizing type of weapon” because they can be launched without warning and come in both nuclear and conventional variants. An unmanned model may follow.
In a brief statement, Wes Bush, chairman and chief executive of Falls Church, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman, that his company will deliver on its promise to build a highly capable, affordable aircraft.
“Our team has the resources in place to execute this important program, and we’re ready to get to work”, Bush said.
Advertisement
Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, said he was “excited at the possibilities this contract holds for California”.
