WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman doesn’t plan to bid on the Air Force’s sixth-generation Next Generation Air Dominance fighter program as a main contractor, chief executive Kathy Warden said Thursday.
But Northrop Grumman is keen on serving as a supplier to other bidders on the Air Force NGAD program as a part of its mission systems portfolio, Warden told analysts in an earnings call.
The Air Force in May announced it had sent industry a classified solicitation for an engineering and manufacturing development contract for NGAD, launching the method for choosing an organization to construct the advanced fighter system that can replace the F-22 Raptor.
In Thursday’s call, Warden said Northrop had previously been “quiet” about its plans for NGAD, but has now told the Air Force it doesn’t plan to reply to the request for proposals as a main.
“We’re remaining disciplined in assessing the appropriate programs to pursue,” Warden said. “And that’s ones where we feel we’re well positioned with mature offerings, and where the business deal reflects an appropriate balance of risk and reward for each the shopper and the economic base.”
Warden said Northrop Grumman might take part in the Navy’s separate NGAD program, which the service refers to as F/A-XX.
“We’ve got other opportunities we’re pursuing,” Warden said when asked about F/A-XX. “I won’t disclose at this point exactly what those are until just a little more information comes out on other programs. But you could possibly assume that if we feel we’re well-positioned, and the federal government is appropriately balancing risk and reward, that might be a program we’d pursue.”
Dave Keffer, Northrop Grumman’s chief financial officer, also said testers within the second quarter successfully turned on the ability for the B-21 Raider’s systems, and the stealth bomber remains to be on target for its first flight in 2023.
Keffer said Northrop expects the Air Force to award the primary low-rate initial production contract on the B-21 after that first flight.
But Warden warned inflation and other macroeconomic aspects remain a risk for the B-21. She said the Pentagon notified Northrop in essentially the most recent quarter that it has allocated one other $60 million for B-21 LRIP procurement in 2023 as a consequence of inflationary effects. The Air Force has $1.4 billion budgeted in 2023 for B-21 procurement, including advance procurement funds from the previous yr.
In a previous earnings call in January, Warden warned inflation, supply chain disruptions and labor issues had raised the B-21′s cost estimates. And the corporate said then a lack of as much as $1.2 billion on a number of of the expected five LRIP lots was “reasonably possible.”
On Thursday, Warden said the corporate remains to be not expecting to generate benefit from the B-21′s LRIP.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.