ST. LOUIS, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin have announced they will partner to compete for a U.S. Air Force contract to build a next-generation, long-range bomber.
Under the teaming agreement, Boeing would be prime contractor for the Air Force's Long-Range Strike Bomber program, while Lockheed would be the primary teammate, Boeing said in a news release Friday.
"Boeing and Lockheed Martin are bringing together the best of the two enterprises, and the rest of industry, in support of the Long-Range Strike Bomber program, and we are honored to support our U.S. Air Force customer and this important national priority," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. "Stable planning, along with efficient and affordable development and production approaches, enables our team to reduce development risk by leveraging mature technologies and integrating existing systems."
"Building on decades of manned and unmanned weapon systems experience, we're proud to bring our collection of technologies, capabilities and resources to affordably design, develop, produce and sustain the bomber program," said Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. "We're confident that our team will meet the well-defined system requirements and deliver a world-class next-generation Long-Range Strike Bomber to the U.S. Air Force within the budget and timeframe required."
Additional details were not provided.
Boeing is currently building the KC-46 tanker for the Air Force, while Lockheed Martin is building the F-35 Lightning II.
