Northrop Grumman's Rolling Meadows team part of new stealth bomber contract

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct Daniel Lipinski's title.

Northrop Grumman Corp. in Rolling Meadows is expected to be part of the company's global team that will produce a new fleet of long-range stealth bombers for the U.S. Air Force.

The classified contract, worth about $85 billion dollars over the next 50 years, will start producing the next-generation stealth bombers by 2020. About 100 such bombers are expected to be delivered during the course of the contract. The Rolling Meadows team likely will work on a specialized subsystem, the company said Tuesday during an employee celebration at the Rolling Meadows offices.

"You will be providing the products and security for those who will be putting their lives on the line every day," said Gloria Flach, president of Northrop's Electronics Systems Sector. "This is our time," she said.

About 600 employees and company executives from Rolling Meadows and Washington, D.C. were joined by U.S. representatives Tammy Duckworth, Peter Roskam and Daniel Lipinski, city and chamber officials. They honored the company as they are poised to start development and manufacturing of the new fleet.

The bombers will be able to penetrate enemy defense lines, use electronic warfare systems and carry both conventional and nuclear bombs. It will follow the legendary B-52, B-1 and B-2 aircraft already provided over the years, officials said.

Northrop Grumman was selected as the provider in October by the U.S. Air Force during a news conference at the Pentagon. However, competitors Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin have filed protests with the federal government's decision, not unusual action when the Federal government awards a contract. The Office of Government Accountability has been reviewing the selection process and is expected to finalize its decision around Feb. 16, 2016. After that final review, and Northrop Grumman is officially designated as the provider, then the company can move forward with its design, development and manufacturing of the bomber, said company spokesman Tim Paynter, who is based at the company's Falls Church, Virginia, headquarters.

Major Robert Leese, a spokesman for the U.S. Air Force in Washington, D.C., declined to comment until after Feb. 16 when the final decision has been finalized.

The new stealth bombers will continue to aid the U.S. war on terror and to provide vital national security, Paynter said.

Northrop Grumman has about 65,000 employees worldwide, including about 2,200 in Rolling Meadows.