Northrop Grumman to build next big bomber

$55 billion project to replace Air Force’s aging fleet.

WASHINGTON — The Air Force said Tuesday it had chosen Northrop Grumman Corp., maker of the B-2 stealth bomber, to build its next-generation bomber, a highly classified, $55 billion project designed to replace the aging bomber fleet with an information-age aircraft that eventually may be capable of flying without a pilot aboard.

The loser of the highstakes bidding contest was a team formed by Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.

The announcement marks an important step in the Pentagon’s broader plan to modernize the entire nuclear force — missile-carrying submarines, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost at $348 billion over 10 years, and others have said it could approach $1 trillion over 30 years.

The Navy is committed to building a new fleet of 12 nuclear ballistic missile submarines to replace its 14 Trident submarines, and the Air Force is preparing to launch a program to build a modernized fleet of land-based ICBMs to replace its Minuteman 2 force.

It’s unclear, however, how the Navy and Air Force will manage this in an era of shrinking budgets.

The new bomber is a high Air Force priority because the oldest ones in its fleet — the venerable B-52s — have far outlasted their expected service life and even the newest — the B-2 stealth bombers — having been flying for more than two decades. A third bomber, the B-1, is used heavily for conventional strikes, but no longer is certified for nuclear missions.

The Air Force has said it will buy up to 100 of the new bombers for $550 million each.

Industry news reports say that while the new plane’s specific capabilities are highly secret, it likely will be equipped with high-tech communications gear and other electronics that would allow it to perform a variety of missions, not just dropping bombs.

For the defense companies that sought the contract, the stakes were high. Boeing has built most of the Air Force’s bombers, including the B-52. And it collaborated with Lockheed Martin on the F-22 stealth fighter. Northrop Grumman built the B-2 bomber fleet.

Critics question whether all three “legs” of the U.S. nuclear triad — bombers, subs and land-based missiles — are necessary in the long run.