New Air Force Bomber Contract Could Bring Thousands of Jobs to Southern California
AviationPros.com | October 27, 2015 –
The U.S. Air Force is expected this afternoon to announce a contract to develop and produce its newest bomber, and a likely assembly site is Palmdale for at least some of the work, officials said.
The Air Force is choosing between Northrop Grumman Corp. and a Boeing Co.-Lockheed Martin Corp. team in a deal that was cleared Friday.
The winning bidder is scheduled to be announced in Washington, D.C., at 2:15 p.m. PDT.
The Long-Range Strike Bomber will be one of the Pentagon’s biggest weapons systems of the next decade, with a price tag of about $80 billion if all 100 aircraft sought by defense officials are built.
Joining the B-2 bomber known for its radar-evading “flying wing” design, the new plane is due to enter service in the mid-2020s as the successor to the 30-year-old B-1 and the Eisenhower-era B-52.
Regardless of which company wins the contract, it will likely be a big boon for Palmdale because the Air Force owns the sprawling Plant 42 complex where many of the nation’s high-tech military planes have been assembled.
Congressman Steve Knight, R-Antelope Valley, helped pass two bills that will grant tax breaks to any company that brings work to his district while he served in the California Senate.
When asked if there is a high expectation Palmdale will be getting some work from the contract, his spokesman Dan Outlaw replied, “Absolutely.”
Knight serves on the House Armed Services Committee. Work on the new plane would also benefit subcontractors in the region, which has been hard hit by defense spending cuts.
While a member of the state Senate, Knight helped push through a series of bills that would make it easier for all bidders on the new bomber contract known as the U.S. Air Force Strategic Aircraft proposal to do work in California.
The legislation created a tax credit program that will average between $25 million and $31 million a year over the next 15 years for aerospace manufacturers and their subcontractors.
California had been at a disadvantage because other states did not tax manufacturers on their equipment purchases or had exemption programs in place.
The aerospace sector had been lobbying for such a program here for about 10 years.
“That sales tax exemption will go a long way in securing this contract and others down the road,” said Gino DiCaro, vice president of communications for the California Manufacturers & Technology Association.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Donald W. Shepperd, who heads the Shepperd Group Inc., a defense and strategic planning consultancy firm, said a new bomber is desperately needed.
“We’ve been at war for 15 years, and our people and our airplanes are worn out and need to be replaced,” he said. “We’re trying to modernize, but at the same we’re playing catch-up on stuff that is worn out. That makes it tough with our financial situation in the U.S.”
If Northrop Grumman lands the contract, the bomber would likely be built in Palmdale, Shepperd said, although he noted that industrial suppliers are spread all over the U.S., so other locations could be strong contenders as well.
