Air Force Names Partners for New Bomber

The U.S. Air Force on Monday identified the main partners alongside lead contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. on the multibillion-dollar B-21 bomber program.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the Pratt & Whitney unit of United Technologies Corp. would provide the engines for the proposed long-range bomber. Northrop Grumman recently resumed work on developing the plane after Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. dropped a protest after losing the main contract.

The Air Force has been under pressure from some lawmakers to identify more partners to boost the transparency of the highly classified program as it tries to steer funding for the plane through Congress.

Other main partners include Spirit AeroSystems Inc., Rockwell Collins Inc. Orbital ATK Inc. and units of BAE Systems Inc. and GKN PLC.

Pratt & Whitney had been widely tipped by analysts as the engine supplier. It already builds engines for the Lockheed-built F-35 combat jet after beating out General Electric Co., which initially self-funded a rival power plant.

The Air Force plans to build as many as 100 jets that would enter service from around 2025. Ms. James said all of the partners were required to have cybersecurity plans in place to protect their work on the plane.

Write to Doug Cameron at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 07, 2016 16:55 ET (21:55 GMT)

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