Northrop plant in California gears up to build B-21 bombers

Stars & Stripes ^ | 11/13/17 | RALPH VARTABEDIAN, W.J. HENNIGAN AND SAMANTHA MASUNAGA

[markomalley]

A once-empty parking lot at Northrop Grumman Corp.’s top secret aircraft plant in Palmdale, Calif., is now jammed with cars that pour in during the predawn hours.

More than a thousand new employees are working for the time being in rows of temporary trailers, a dozen tan tents and a huge assembly hangar at the desert site near the edge of urban Los Angeles County.

It is here that Northrop is building the Air Force’s new B-21 bomber, a stealthy bat-winged jet that is being designed to slip behind any adversary’s air defense system and deliver devastating airstrikes for decades to come. The Pentagon plans to buy 100 of the bombers by the mid-2030s for at least $80 billion, though the exact amount is classified.

Northrop won the bomber contract in 2015, but the pace of activity is increasing sharply under an Air Force budget that has reached $2 billion for this fiscal year.

Construction crews are getting ready to add 1 million square feet to the plant, a 50 percent increase over what is already a huge facility.

[markomalley]

Pity. The DOD should have specified that this work couldn't occur in a high-risk state such as Californication (in favor of a more secure location, such as SC or TX). After all, what happens if they vote for CALEXIT when the work has entered full-rate production?

[laplata]

Good points. And Palmdale is subject to strong earthquakes.

[roadcat]

The DOD should have specified that this work couldn't occur in a high-risk state such as Californication (in favor of a more secure location, such as SC or TX).

That's ludicrous. Not so high-risk. 3/4 of land in California belongs to government, and facilities and bases are well-protected. Lots of existing military facilities, ports and rail, and the engineering know-how is all here in California. It's the sliver of land at the coast with SF and LA that is a problem, but not elsewhere. Plenty of conservatives here, although outnumbered by the big cities. Much of aviation history was created here (including space history). If anything, you need to worry about liberals in Austin and Houston.

[Vision]

Do the fruits and nuts of California know weapons are being manufactured in their state?

[libertylover]

what happens if they vote for CALEXIT when the work has entered full-rate production?

The Democrats would never allow California to leave (legally) because they could never win another national election.