A next-generation bomber program being planned by the U.S. Air Force has gotten the attention of a number of the major defense contractors.
Chicago-based Boeing and Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin announced Friday they will collaborate on research in anticipation of the program.
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Another likely bidder, Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, plans to compete separately.
The Air Force has said publicly it hopes to have a new bomber program in place by 2018, which would rely partly on technology already present in existing bombers, such as the B-2 Spirit and the F-22 Raptor. Air Force officials did not respond to a request for more information.
The project would serve as an intermediary solution for the Air Force’s need for more bombers, said Loren Thompson, a military analyst with the Arlington-based think tank the Lexington Institute.
“It’s a near-term requirement for a bomber that might well be superceded within a generation by something much faster and with a much longer range,” Thompson said.
Thompson estimated the bomber would cost about $8 billion to initially develop. It would act, she said, as a stealthy subsonic aircraft carrying 14,000 to 28,000 tons, with a distance range ofmore than 2,000 nautical miles.
Lockheed Martin, in a joint statement with Boeing, said the team would work on advanced sensors and other electronic warfare solutions.
“These two companies are the dominant producers of military aircraft in the Northern Hemisphere,” Thompson said. “Put them together; and they’ll be a very hard team to beat.”
Lockheed Martin did not return calls Monday.
Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman has high hopes for the award because of its status as the prime contractor on the Long Range Strike program and the B-2 Spirit, spokeswoman Rene Freeland said Monday.
“We are prepared to compete for any emerging program when it occurs,” Freeland said.
