The company’s chief executive officer Wes Bush expressed his delight in an emailed statement.
Advertisement
Pratt & Whitney could be a big victor, or a big loser, in the Pentagon’s decision to award ae multi-billion contract to Northrop Grumman to manufacture the nation’s next-generation USA warplane, the Long-Range Strike Bomber.
Cost control may also have played a part in Northrop’s selection: The company also has contracts for the B-2 Spirit and RQ-180, a still-secret unmanned surveillance aircraft that is created to spy from what is known as “contested skies” like those over Iran and North Korea. Perhaps the proven track record of building the B-2 bombers, that are now being used, might have prompted the Pentagon to go with Northrop Grumman.
The Boeing/Lockheed team still has the option of protesting the contract award. While the loss of the LRS-B is not a huge blow to Lockheed Martin, for Boeing-which is the prime contractor for the losing team-the stakes are high.
“We face a complex security environment”, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said during the Pentagon briefing announcing the contract Tuesday.
Beefed-up aerospace and technical-services units complete the revamped lineup, which Northrop said would help it enhance innovation.
It’s expected to be the single largest defense contract over the next decade, and it would be the first new USA bomber to be developed since the Cold War. Though the Air Force has agreed to procure about 100 of the next generation planes, the Northrop Grumman contract awarded Tuesday is for an initial set of 21 planes only.
The US Air Force has selected Northrop Grumman to develop its new Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B).
LaPlante dropped just one hint: “We’re going to do something that, as far as we know, has never been done before on a major platform”.
The Air Force has described the LRS-B as a “long range, highly survivable bomber” that can evade stealth detection and launch and “provides the strategic agility to launch from the United States and strike any target, any time around the globe”. Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force.
Moreover, this open architecture will offer the opportunity to retain competition across the lifecycle of the programme.
Advertisement
More recent programs to upgrade stealth air capabilities, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, have been plagued by schedule delays, technology glitches and cost overruns.
