Despite Protest, Northrop Grumman Continues Bomber Contract Victory Tour

Northrop Grumman [NOC] cannot say much about its preparation for production of the Air Force’s Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) because of a pending protest and the highly classified nature of the program. But the company is not missing the chance to pat itself on the back for being chosen by the Air Force to take on the $80 billion contract.

The company has embarked on a series of celebratory events at various facilities across the nation to celebrate its achievement and congratulate employees associated with the program. One of the brief events was held Dec. 18 at Northrop Grumman’s relatively new campus in McLean, Va., with state and national legislators in attendance. CEO Wes Bush said the Air Force affirmed its commitment to technological superiority by choosing Northrop Grumman.

“It was an amazing decision because it sends a message–a huge message–that the Air Force is absolutely committed to technological superiority for the long term,” Bush said. “That’s what we’re talking about here: A very long-term program that is at the center of our national security.”

“We actually are the only company that has the experience necessary to do this job,” Bush said Friday. “No one else has 35 years of advanced stealth capability. That is Northrop Grumman.”

Losing competitors Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA] disagree with that assessment, as evidenced by the protest the companies filed as a team with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in early November.

In a joint statement at the time, the companies called the selection process “fundamentally flawed” and said the cost evaluation performed by the Air Force did not properly reward the contractors’ proposals to break the “upward-spiraling historical cost curves of defense acquisitions.” The two companies also said the Air Force did not properly value the relative or comparative risk of the competitors’ ability to perform, as required by the solicitation.

GAO’s decision is due Feb. 16, 100 days from the protest filing.