Northrop Grumman announces new long-range strike aircraft, the B-21 Raider
TODAY. I’M JOINED NOW EXCLUSIVELY BY NORTHROP GRUMMAN’S CHAIR AND CEO, KATHY WARDEN. GREAT TO SEE YOU TODAY. >> GREAT TO SEE YOU. THANKS FOR HAVING US >> IT’S A MAJOR MILESTONE. I REALIZE IT’S A HIGHLY CLASSIFIED PROGRAM AND BEEN VERY SECRETIVE UP UNTIL NOW WHAT CAN YOU SHARE ABOUT WHAT WE’LL SEE AT THE UNVEILING TONIGHT AND HOW IT SPEAKS TO THE CAPABILITIES OF THIS SIXTH GENERATION AIRCRAFT. >> THE B-21 RAIDER IS A LONG-RANGE STRIKE AIRCRAFT WHAT THAT MOONS IS IT HAS THE RANGE TO GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND KEEP A TARGET AT RISK. IT
ALSO IS A PLATFORM, THOUGH, THAT IS LOW OBSERVABLE THAT MEANS IT CAN ENTER ENEMY AIR SPACE AND NOT BE DETECTED. THOSE ARE SOME OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE B-21 THAT MAKE IT SPECIAL. THAT’S ABOUT THE AIRCRAFT ITSELF BUT ALSO INSIDE THE AIRCRAFT IT HAS THE ABILITY TO CONNECT WITH OTHER PLATFORMS AND REALLY PROVIDE THE U.S. AND OUR ALLIES AN INFORMATION ADVANTAGE. >> INTERESTING SO, BASICALLY, IT’S A COMPUTER IN THE AIR, IS WHAT YOU’RE TELLING ME >> IT IS THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT >> WHAT’S PRETTY INCREDIBLE ABOUT THIS, HIGHLY COMPLICATED, HIGHLY COMPLEX PROGRAM WHAT WE TYPICALLY SEE,
UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN PROGRAMS OF THIS SIZE GO THROUGH DEVELOPMENT, THEY TEND TO COME OVER BUDGET, THEY TEND TO BE DELAYED. THAT HAS NOT BEEN THE CASE WITH B-21 SO FAR
PROGRAM FOR THE B-21 RAIDER. >> THERE’S SEVERAL LAYERS SO FAR TO THE CONTRACTING PROCESS AROUND THIS PROGRAM. THERE WAS THE CONTRACTS AROUND DEVELOPMENT, NOW POISED TO WITH THE FIRST FLIGHT, WHICH I BELIEVE IS SCHEDULED FOR EARLY NEXT YEAR, YOU’LL START TO SEE EARLY PRODUCTION RATES FOR THE FIRST SEVERAL DOZEN PLANES FIXED PRICE CONTRACT WE’VE SEEN ESTIMATES THAT GO BACK A NUMBER OF YEARS NOW THAT’S GOING TO BE $550 MILLION PER PLANE BUT WE KNOW INFLATION WILL PLAY A ROLE IN ALL OF THIS. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THAT FLYAWAY COST FOR THE PLANE TO BE —
THE AIRCRAFT TO BE NOW AND CAN YOU MAKE MONEY ON IT >> WELL, THE AIR FORCE IS CONTINUING TO UPDATE THE COST OF THE AIRCRAFT AND THE TARGET FOR US AND AS YOU NOTED, BACK IN 2010, THAT WAS $550 MILLION PER AIRCRAFT THAT’S UP TO NEARLY $700 MILLION, BASED ON INFLATION, AS YOU NOTED. WE SEE THE VALUE CREATION FOR NORTHROP GRUMMAN AS STILL VERY MUCH AHEAD OF US AS WE MOVE INTO THIS PRODUCTION PHASE. THE AIR FORCE IS TALKING ABOUT BUILDING AT LEAST 100 AIRCRAFT >> AND HOW MANY ARE UNDER PRODUCTION RIGHT NOW >> WE
HAVE SIX IN PRODUCTION RIGHT HERE IN PALMDALE. >> SO, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE B-21, IT’S ONE OF SEVERAL MAJOR PROGRAMS THAT NORTHROP GRUMMAN HAS. THE REASON ANALYSTS EXPECT THIS COMPANY TO GROW AND BE THE FASTEST GROWING DEFENSE PRIME OVER THE COMING DECADE ALSO A REASON WHY YOU ARE FORECASTING TOP-LINE GROWTH NEXT YEAR WHEN MANY OTHER DEFENSE PRIMES ARE NOT I GUESS, SPEAK TO US ABOUT HOW YOU ARE ABLE TO GROW IN THIS ENVIRONMENT. IS IT THAT SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES ARE EASING OR THAT YOU’RE GROWING IN SPITE OF THEM >> WE ARE GROWING IN SPITE
OF SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES. WE TALKED ABOUT THOSE CONTINUING TO CREATE CHALLENGES WELL INTO 2023 I ALSO SPOKE WHEN WE WERE TOGETHER LAST YEAR ABOUT LABOR I’M PLEASED TO SAY WE’RE STARTING TO SEE LABOR TURN THE CORNER WE’RE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT 2023 AND OUR ABILITY TO GROW FASTER THAN 2022 AND WE’VE GUIDED TO THAT. I WAS ALSO SAY, MORGAN, WE DIFFERENTIATE AS A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY. SO, THE WAY WE’RE WINNING WORK AND BEING SUCCESSFUL ON PROGRAMS LIKE THE B-21 RAIDER IS BECAUSE OUR PEOPLE A
