Lockheed Martin awarded Northrop Grumman a $422 million contract to produce sensor payloads for the fifth and sixth Space Based Infrared System missile warning satellites, according to a Northrop Grumman release. “We are committed to reducing cost and payload development cycle times, while still providing exceptional data to our military and intelligence stake holder,” said Anne Ostroff, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of the military/civil space and ground business area. The fifth and sixth geosynchronous Earth orbit satellites, known as GEO-5 and GEO-6, will replenish the constellation when the first two SBIRS spacecraft reach the end of their service lives. Northrop Grumman also built the payloads for previous GEO satellites.
There's a growing consensus among experts, lawmakers, and Pentagon leaders that the Air Force should buy more than the planned minimum of 100 B-21 stealth bombers. Exactly how many more is a question USAF will likely answer in its 2028 budget request, the service’s top planner said May 13.