Mary-Louise Hoffman
Northrop Grumman has signed an agreement with the U.S. Air Force to overhaul each of the military branch’s B-2 bomber plane once every nine years.
The Air Force B-2s undergo a programmed depot maintenance process at Northrop’s aircraft integration center of excellence in Palmdale, California, once every seven years prior to the signing of the contract, the company said Monday
Pat McMahon, Northrop sector vice president and general manager of military aircraft systems, said the company aims to increase bomber availability for national security missions through the nine-year aircraft PDM cycle.
The company will also implement the new B-2 overhaul strategy in an effort to cut average length of restoring each bomber to 365 days.
B-2s are designed to fly up to 6,000 nautical miles without aerial refueling and operate through access-denied airspace.
