Northrop expecting next B-21 production award by end of the year

Northrop Grumman anticipates getting a second contract to continue producing the Pentagon’s new B-21 Raider by the end of the year, executives announced today. 

“With B-21, we are on track for meeting the milestones associated with an award” for Low-Rate Initial Production Contract 2, or LRIP 2 “and so we are expecting that to happen in the fourth quarter,” CEO Kathy Warden told investors during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday. 

Warden didn’t say how many planes the contract would cover. But it would be the second of five annual LRIPs that are expected to total 21 aircraft—and to cost the company a total of $1.2 billion, she has said, blaming the losses on inflation, supply-chain problems, and the company’s commitment to a fixed-price contract before they had a mature design. The Air Force expects to pay roughly $780 million per LRIP aircraft—officially, $550 million per plane in 2010 dollars—based on its overall plan to buy at least 100 Raiders.

Northrop executives say the program will eventually be profitable. The company has negotiated a higher cost ceiling for the 19 aircraft that will follow the first 21. 

The service doesn’t plan to buy more than 100 Raiders—although some think tankers argue that it should—since the future may bring new and improved technology, officials say. The service is taking another look at all of its next-gen plans, as previous concepts of air superiority and adversary capabilities have changed.

Said Warden, “They are undertaking a force structure design review and the [Air Force] Secretary has been open about looking at the various options they have for increasing their force size, and has talked specifically about NGAD, and we know that B-21 is in the mix as well. It would be premature for me to suggest where that force structure review will end up, but I do think in the coming months, we may get a better indication from the Air Force as to how they're thinking about B-21 quantities in the long run.”

In the meantime, flight testing and production are moving along well, Warden said. 

“The B-21 program has also made solid progress in achieving ground and flight testing milestones on the development contract, and is continuing to execute the aircraft production contract in line with our estimates,” she said. 

Last month, Northrop said it has three aircraft in test, two for ground testing and one for flight testing, and has been able to conduct flight tests twice a week.