Boeing and Lockheed Martin will no longer contest the Air Force contract given to Northrop Grumman for the construction of the military branch’s Long Range Strike-Bomber, according to a Friday statement from Boeing.
The contract, valued at approximately $80 billion, tasks Northrop Grumman with building the bombers that will ultimately replace the Air Force’s B-1 and B-52 bombers.
Just prior to Boeing’s statement, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James released the first rendering of the LongRange Strike-Bomber, which has been designated the B-21 bomber. The rendering is based on the initial design concept of the bomber.
James, who made the announcement at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., said the B-21 will be named by an airman.
Boeing and Lockheed jointly bid for the highly coveted deal, and later protested the U.S. Air Force’s October decision to give Northrop Grumman the opportunity to build the bomber. That complaint was rejected by the U.S. Government Accountability Office Feb. 16.
Though the two companies have quit fighting the decision, they “remain firmly convinced of the validity of the issues raised in our protest to the Government Accountability Office of the Long Range Strike-Bomber contract award to Northrop Grumman,” according to Boeing’s statement.
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