Northrop Wins LRSB Contract

Northrop Grumman has been chosen to build the Air Force’s next-generation long-range bomber, a major aircraft manufacturing contract that is worth an estimated $80 billion. The incumbent manufacturer of the B-2 Spirit bomber beat out a heavyweight team comprised of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The contract award will significantly shape the defense aerospace industry for decades, experts have said. The decision to have Northrop Grumman build the long-range strike bomber (LRS-B) effectively preserves Northrop Grumman’s defense aircraft manufacturing plant and spreads the Air Force’s three priority modernization programs evenly among the three largest aerospace players. Lockheed Martin is currently building the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Boeing holds the contract for the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker.