Last fall, Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante gave the go-ahead to begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the U.S. Air Force B-21 Raider stealth bomber by Northrop Grumman [NOC], DoD said on Jan. 22 after the same day publication of news articles that the company has claimed that it won the LRIP contract after the start of flight tests late last year. The B-21 had its first flight on Nov. 10 last year over Palmdale, Calif., near the aircraft’s development…
