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AV jobs boon expected in wake of air force bomber contract [updated]

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The new bomber is an Air Force priority because the oldest ones in its fleet have far outlived their expected service life and even the newest – the B-2 stealth bombers – have been flying for more than two decades, said Deborah Lee James, the secretary of the Air Force. Image: A B-2 Spirit bomber takes off July 17, 1989, from the Northrop Grumman production facility in Palmdale. [U.S. Air Force photo by Alan Wycheck]
The new bomber is an Air Force priority because the oldest ones in its fleet have far outlived their expected service life and even the newest – the B-2 stealth bombers – have been flying for more than two decades, said Deborah Lee James, the secretary of the Air Force. Image: A B-2 Spirit bomber takes off July 17, 1989, from the Northrop Grumman production facility in Palmdale. [U.S. Air Force photo by Alan Wycheck]
PALMDALE – The U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. a contract worth up to $60 billion Tuesday to build the nation’s next-generation stealth bomber — a project that is expected to be a major boon to the local aerospace sector with much of the assembly work likely to be done in the Palmdale area.

An onslaught of new job openings are expected in the wake of the contract for a fleet of radar-evading long-range bombers to replace the 30-year-old B-1 and the Eisenhower-era B-52.

“This is a huge win for the Antelope Valley and California’s aerospace industry,” said Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale). “Hundreds of new jobs will be created which will provide a badly needed injection into our local economy.”

Sen. Sharon Runner (R-Antelope Valley) said the project “will significantly bolster our manufacturing workforce, potentially providing more than 1,000 new jobs.”

The Long-Range Strike Bomber will be one of the Pentagon’s biggest weapons systems of the next decade, and is slated to enter service in the mid-2020s.

The fleet will “extend our ability to reach any target around the world,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said, calling the aircraft the “backbone” of the military’s new air program.

The estimated $60 billion initial contract is one of the largest in Air Force history and culminates an intense four-year battle involving three of the world’s largest military contractors. Northrop Grumman was battling for the contract against a combined bid by Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. [View more on the LRS-B contract award here.]

Much of the plane will likely be assembled at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, a 5,800-acre industrial park owned by the military but leased to aerospace contractors. According to some reports, the project could create more than 6,500 aerospace jobs in the area – helping to offset recent Pentagon spending cuts that have crippled the industry locally.

“I extend my congratulations to Northrop Grumman and look forward to watching this project develop in our community,” stated Congressman Steve Knight (R-Antelope Valley).

“Winning this contract would not have been possible without Congressman Knight’s work to create a state tax incentive for aerospace jobs,” Lackey added.

The new bomber is an Air Force priority because the oldest ones in its fleet have far outlived their expected service life and even the newest – the B-2 stealth bombers – have been flying for more than two decades, said Deborah Lee James, the secretary of the Air Force.

A third bomber, the B-1, is used heavily for conventional strikes, but no longer is certified for nuclear missions.

The Air Force has said it will buy up to 100 of the new bombers for $550 million each.

While the new plane’s specific capabilities are highly secret, it likely will be equipped with high-tech communications gear and other electronics that would allow it to perform a variety of missions, not just dropping bombs, according to news reports.

The first version will be piloted and carry conventional weapons, followed by a version that can carry nuclear warheads. An unmanned model may follow.

“This is a big win for not only Palmdale, but for Southern California as well,” said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford. “With so many defense contractors and sub-contractors here, this means good jobs, a boost to our economy. Having Edwards Air Force base, the premier flight test facility in the world, makes the connection seamless.”

“This news, combined with the recent announcement of the Oasis Wellness Center coming to Palmdale, Kinkisharyo already manufacturing rail cars for Metro, and both the California High Speed Rail and the Xpress West high speed rail from Las Vegas stopping in Palmdale paints a very bright future for our community,” Ledford said.

“A lot [of] hard work went into making this a reality,” Ledford said. “Our thanks go to Bill Allen and the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation business assistance and development office, Congressman Steve Knight, Assemblyman Tom Lackey, as well as County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and his Chief of Staff Kathryn Barger for their tireless efforts.”

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Editor’s note: Story updated to include comments from Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford.

[City News service contributed to this report.]

Related stories:

Air Force awards LRS-B contract – news release from the U.S. Air Force

Air Force Awards Contract for Long Range Strike Bomber – news release from DOD

Air Force Selects Northrop Grumman as Partner on Long-Range Strike Bomber- news release from NG

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Filed Under: Business, Palmdale

36 comments for "AV jobs boon expected in wake of air force bomber contract [updated]"

  1. Not a single mention of former state Assemblyman Steve Fox, who helped in shepherding the tax rebate bill for aerospace companies through both houses of state government in Sacramento. Whether you like Mr. Fox, or not, let’s give credit where it’s due.

  2. As far as union thugs are concerned, it was Kathy Mclaren “president of the Palmdale Water District” and IBEW organizer who killed the permanent manufacturing plant that Kinkisharyo was going to build. Now the real losers are the other unions that were going to get the jobs that would be developed by the prevailing wage construction. Kathy is the one responsible for the loss of construction jobs and she wants people to support her political agenda at the water district. How do we say “thank you” Kathy ?

  4. 60 Billion now you’re talking. The MGM Grand of Las Vegas cost 1 Billion at the time of construction times that by 60 give you a picture to look at.

    • Uh, Dad

      What are you talkin’ ’bout?

      “…Kinkisharyo already manufacturing rail cars for Metro…”

      Please explain, s’il vous plait.

    • You can thank your local union thugs for that. They would rather see the work go elsewhere than to have it done here in the AV if it’s not union work. Pretty stupid and hurtful.

      • @Rick

        You don’t like unions and I’ll bet you oppose raising the minimum wage too.

        Glad you’re not in charge of anything.

        • @William
          I am not opposed to unions at all. I am opposed to union thugs who chase jobs out of the Antelope Valley because if they can’t have the jobs no one can. That is what happened at Kinkisharyo. It is most unfortunate and it gives unions, who have done great things, a bad name.

          • Care to expand on this? The most recent news on the subject that I can find is from December of last year and says the dispute was resolved and the threat to move their manufacturing out of state was withdrawn.

          • @ Tim Scott
            Kinkisharyo is not building their permanent plant here in the Antelope Valley. I will find and post stories to verify. The efforts to halt construction by union thugs put an end to that. They have a contract and when it is done so are they. It is a tragedy because they could have been here for decades. The selfishness of the union thugs killed it. Where will they go? Texas? Kansas? Oklahoma? Arizona?

          • From reading about them they don’t build such “permanent plants” anywhere…or if they do they build them as investments to be sold off. There is no indication that they were going to change their standard practice, which is to build the product to fulfill their contract with Los Angeles somewhere near Los Angeles, and close down when the contract is complete.

            That is what they did for their Boston contract, their Seattle contract, and their Phoenix contract. While it may be fulfilling to blame them following their normal business practice on mythical “union thuggery,” it seems a bit of a stretch.

            “Where they will go?” seems to be some place in proximity to wherever their next contract leads them.

          • Thanks Rick. I still don’t know that there was any great likelihood this company was going to change their basic strategy anyway, but I appreciate you digging up that info.

  7. I think there’s a typo here? Boon is defined as helpful or beneficial…so therefore…”av jobs boon expected” …doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t this have been written using the word “boom”? I would say it was a typo however it’s listed more than once, thereby making it deliberate.

    • High paying jobs by the thousands are a boon. What kind of boon is it? It’s a “jobs boon.” We will never know if the person writing the headline meant to say boom, but there’s nothing technically wrong with how it turned out.

      • Well, then there’s Daniel Boom, American pioneer, explorer, woodsman, and frontiersman.

        But, I digress.

    • boon

      noun
      noun: boon; plural noun: boons

      1.
      a thing that is helpful or beneficial.
      “the navigation system will be a boon to both civilian and military users”

      synonyms: blessing, godsend, bonus, plus, benefit, advantage, help, aid, asset; More
      stroke of luck, windfall
      “their help was such a boon”

      antonyms: curse

      2.
      archaic
      a favor or request.

      “may I have the inestimable boon of a few minutes’ conversation?”

    • Boon is used correctly. Boom is what you heard when Rex hit the floor that more business is coming to Palmdale. People in Lancaster will surely benefit, but it will only help Palmdale increase its already increasing retail and local businesses. It will most likely help the housing industry in Palmdale too, as these will be good paying jobs and who really wants to live in Rexville.

      • A couple of important things to do:

        1) As new people influx into the valley we need to be sure that the differences between Palmdale and Rexburgh are readily apparent. I’m planning to put together a comprehensive list of all the awards the city government of Palmdale has won lately for their innovative programs and fiscal leadership. We can keep that posted next to a similar list of all the contracts Rex’s cronies have won from the citizens of Lancaster.

        2) We need to press for Northrop to take over the vacant hangers at the old Rockwell site. They are already using site 3 and site 4, and one would have to guess that they don’t really have room in their existing facilities for this big a program anyway. It would be good if all these new jobs involved leaving work directly into the city (Avenue P), instead of driving out a gate right onto the city limits (Avenue M).

      • Golly, AV Observer

        rex doesn’t even like living in rexville, er, rexistan. Doesn’t he split whenever he’s not hosting one of those council meetings to an empty room once a month or whenever? When will we learn of his true residence that he uses for tax purposes? He probably has another home in Nevada with no income tax.

        Where, oh where, are his defenders. You know the ones that refer to him as ‘R. Rex Parris’ but we know it’s rex ‘hisself’ doing that. Who else would use his ‘formal’ name out of r-e-s-p-e-c-t…..Aretha Franklin?

        I love teasing the thin-skinned bully. He’s such an unwitting target.

        • From what I have heard, more then 1/2 of the council (Rex included) have homes up in Bear Valley where they actually live. Only keeping a mailing address in the city.

          • Have not heard that one. He has a palace at the beach down by Newport. That is where he really lives.

    • Uh, how do you think national defense is paid for? Girl scout cookie sales? Same goes for roads, bridges. It’s all part of that “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” stuff.

      • The custard shop is called Zero Degrees Custard & Ice. It is located on The BLVD in Lancaster. It is still open.

        • Thank you, John.

          I’m surprised as that’s the first time I’ve read or heard the name-Zero Degrees Custard & Ice.

          Usually, the name is floated whenever a new business open and not just from the companies own advertizing.

        • The Cap’n shore does love his custard. I’s glad this place is still open and don’t go the ways of Barones an Chicago Dog an Vintage Styles an Brittanys an Eat Wells an Raes an Forge an the rest.

          • I consider it important to note that Barone’s is still fully operational in it’s original Avenue I location, having abandoned the disaster of the BLVD. They are one of two businesses in Lancaster that I do patronize.

          • Yer durn right there Tim Scott. Lots a places are fully operational off the BLVD. Lots a places went under on the BLVD. Barones had all sorts of problems with panhandlin, not enough peoples.