The Pentagon announced last week it is developing a new strategic bomber that will carry both nuclear and conventional weapons, as both China and Russia are engaged in similar stealth bomber programs. The U.S. bomber, currently named Long Range Strike Bomber, or LRS-B, eventually will be called the B-3 when the first aircraft are deployed in the mid-2020s.
The high-priced bomber is needed to replace aging B-52 and B-1 bombers and augment the small fleet of B-2s.
Northrop Grumman, which builds the stealth drone known as the RQ-180, won an initial $21.4 billion contract for 21 of the aircraft, each of which are expected to cost over $500 million. A hundred bombers eventually will be built.
Read the entire article at the Washington Times.