Editor’s Note: This certainly ends a lot of the speculation as to which companies are on the LRS-B Team. There were a lot of theories circling the E-waves, and thanks to Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James, we now have an idea of who the major players will be for the B-21. While Secretary James espouses forward-leaning posture on LRS-B and transparency, we’re not sure we agree about the B-2 being in the Shadows too long. Arguably, being in the shadows is what allows the B-2 to be as potent as it is, even after nearly three decades in service.
The Air Force has named the seven major contractors who will join Northrop Grumman in building the next-generation B-21 bomber, including the new plane’s engine-maker Pratt & Whitney.
Almost five months after the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a hotly contested contract to build the secretive long range strike bomber, now called the B-21, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James gave reporters a sneak peek at the list of major subcontractors on the program during a March 7 briefing at the Pentagon.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, accompanied by and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III, announces that Northrop Grumman is awarded the US Air Forces next-generation long range strike bomber contract at a news conference at the Pentagon, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
As many expected, F-35 engine-maker Pratt & Whitney will build the B-21 engine at its facility in East Hartford, Connecticut, James announced. As Defense News reported in November, the decision not to go with GE Aviation for the B-21 engine reflects a departure from history, as GE builds the F118 that powers Nothrop’s B-2 stealth bomber.
The other six industry partners named March 7 will work on “airframe or mission systems” for the new plane, James said. These contractors are: BAE Systems, working out of Nashua, New Hampshire; GKN Aerospace in St. Louis, Missouri; Janicki Industries in Sedro-Woolley, Washington; Orbital ATK in Clearfield, Utah and Dayton, Ohio; Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas.
The original article at Defense News can be read in its entirety right here.
(Featured photo courtesy of Defense News)