Air Force’s $2 Billion Bomber Request Pays for Staff, Drawings
- Service official discloses what’s in B-21 request for 2018
- Northrop’s performing as expected so far, official says
The B-21 will replace the B-1 Lancer, pictured.
Source: Sgt. Richard P. Ebensberger/USAFThis article is for subscribers only.
The $2 billion that the U.S. Air Force wants to spend this fiscal year for the new B-21 bomber would go toward added staffing for contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., software development and producing detailed engineering drawings, according to a top service official.
While the items listed by Air Force Undersecretary Matt Donovan were predictable for early work on a major weapons system, it provided a peek behind the curtain of plans for the new bomber that could become an $80 billion program for at least 100 of the aircraft. Donovan came to the Pentagon from the Senate Armed Services Committee, whose chairman, John McCain, has protested that the bomber is being shrouded in excessive secrecy.