The fight for the future of air defense

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

As the Air Force prepares to announce which company will build its next stealth bomber, it will do so under the scrutiny of lawmakers who will be looking for cost overruns and delays in the program that's already seen its budgets slashed by Congress.

 

Northrop Grumman is competing against a team of Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the contract, which will be announced in just a few weeks.

 

The new bomber is highly classified — not even the request for proposals was made public. So despite a high level of interest, the Air Force has already cautioned that the much-awaited award notification isn't likely to include more than just the name of the winning company. So no space-age illustrations or even the most general of details to tickle the imagination.

 

Why? Because a long-range bomber capable of penetrating ever-more sophisticated missile and radar systems is a top strategic defense priority, and not just for the U.S. Just a few weeks before the U.S. planned its bomber announcement, China leaked through state media its own news: It, too, has a long-range strike-bomber in the works.