The Navy’s First Carrier Drone Will Be a Flying Gas Tank
Beginning in 2007, the U.S. Navy spent billions of dollars experimenting with a fighter-size, jet-powered, aircraft carrier-launched robotic demonstrator aircraft that, in concept, could have formed the basis of a stealthy, long-range attack drone for future carrier air wings. Nine years later in its 2017 budge proposal, the American... Read more
The U.S. Air Force’s B-21 Stealth Bomber Is About to Get Really Political
At a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing, Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, a deputy in the U.S. Air Force’s acquisitions office, fielded a question from Guam representative Madeleine Bordallo about the decision to use a riskier cost-plus contract rather than a fixed-price contract for the development phase of what... Read more
The B-21 Stealth Bomber Design Should Have Been No Surprise
On Feb. 26, the U.S. Air Force revealed the basic design concept — and designation — for its new heavy bomber. The B-21, which Northrop Grumman is developing under a potentially $80-billion contract, looks a lot like the company’s previous bomber, the B-2, albeit with slightly cleaner inlet and... Read more
At Last — the U.S. Air Force Is Getting a New Bomber
It’s official. After years of development, the U.S. Air Force has chosen Northrop Grumman over a Lockheed-Boeing consortium to build the service’s next long-range bomber. On Oct. 27, the flying branch announced that it would pay the Virginia-based plane maker more than $21.4 billion to start engineering and manufacturing development –... Read more
There’s a Lot Riding on America’s Next Stealth Bomber
The U.S. Air Force is expected to award a contract for its secretive Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) program later this month. The LRS-B award could determine the fate of the U.S. defense-aerospace industry as Northrop Grumman and a combined Boeing/Lockheed Martin team vie to secure a program that could... Read more