The Air Force is looking to modernize their nuclear arsenal, and they’ve put out a call for contractors. The current frontrunner is a consortium led by Northrop Grumman, competing with Boeing for the lucrative ballistic missile contract. Carten Cordell, staff reporter at the Washington Business Journal, says that Northrop Grumman is a shoe-in thanks to their growing presence in the rocket business.
“Northrop’s acquisition of Orbital-ATK last year put them in an edge for the solid rocket motors that are going to be powering these missiles,” Cordell said. “Boeing was in competition for that, they didn’t feel that the RFP really represented a fair competition so they pulled out in July. That’s led a lot of people in the market to think that maybe Northrop is going to be the sole competitor.”
