BAE Systems hosted an event at a company facility in Nashua, New Hampshire, last week to mark a partnership between BAE and Northrop Grumman to help build the U.S. Air Force‘s B-21 Raider bomber aircraft, Union Leader reported Wednesday.
The event was attended by Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and executives from the two defense contractors.
Northrop serves as the prime contractor for the B-21 program under a contract the Air Force awarded in 2015 and leads a team composed of BAE, GKN Aerospace, Janicki Industries, Orbital ATK, Pratt & Whitney, Rockwell Collins and Spirit AeroSystems.
Janis Pamiljans, president of Northrop’s aerospace systems, said the industry team aims to complete key milestones such as preliminary and critical design reviews under the project.
The Air Force expects the B-21 aircraft to reach initial operational capability status by 2025.