Sweetman: Northrop Working on Secret Bomber Demonstrator

Posted on: May. 27th, 2008 || Source: aviationweek.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

According to Bill Sweetman, over at Aviation Week's Ares defense technology blog, Northrop Grumman has won a classified Air Force contract to develop a secret bomber prototype.

Buried in the company's first quarter financial results, he found the following clue: "The company was awarded approximately $2.6 billion for restricted programs during this period." Only Northrop's aircraft development department, Integrated Systems, showed "an increase in backlog on that scale".

Although the financial results report deso not specifically states the "restricted programs" include bomber development, he notes several defense budget reports clearly indicate a black bomber demonstrator program is in the works.

Sweetman further states that "Covering black programs is a combination of reporting and intelligence, and the "mosaic" is a vital concept: like an archaeologist rebuilding a mosaic, you put the pieces together in a pattern that makes sense." He therefore believes Northrop's design for the next-gen bomber will be based on its X-47B vehicle, developed for the J-UCAS progam.

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