Results: Top Secret Desert Plant, Building The B-21 Bomber

(In Southern California) Northrop is building the Air Force's new B-21 bomber, a stealthy bat-winged jet that is being designed to slip behind any adversary's air defense system and deliver devastating airstrikes for decades to come. The Pentagon is aiming to buy 100 of the bombers by the mid-2030s for at least $80 billion, though the exact amount is classified. Have you heard this story?

The bomber — dubbed the "Raider" — is expected to become Northrop's largest cash cow, which could run for two decades if it does not encounter technical or political setbacks. But it will be competing with other nuclear and non-nuclear modernization programs for limited defense funds — a cutthroat political contest. Northrop has 3,000 employees at the Palmdale plant and is still hiring at a rapid clip. By late 2019, the operation will have 5,200 employees at the site, Kevin Mitchell, deputy vice president of global operations, recently told a Lancaster Chamber of Commerce meeting. If you're in the area, or not, would you apply to work on this project?

The B-21 will replace two of its predecessors. Check off the fighter planes that you've heard of before:

Unlike many strategic weapons systems, such as submarines or intercontinental ballistic missiles, bombers are in use daily on missions in the Middle East. More than a decade of war in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria have made clear that bombers play a big role in limited conventional war. The ultimate success of the program will depend on continued government support and cost controls. The Air Force considers the bomber one of its top three priorities, along with the F-35 and a new aerial refueling tanker. Do you agree that we (the US) needs better fighter planes given the current Middle East situation?

Next off the places that you knew US bombers were at:

Mike Blades, a securities analyst with Frost & Sullivan, said he believes that about 30% to 50% of the Air Force's $2-billion bomber budget for fiscal 2018 is flowing through Northrop. "By far, it is going to be the largest source of their funding," Blades said. "It is going to be a big deal for a long time. You are talking $2 billion and they are just in research and development." Investors have taken close note. Since the company was awarded the contract in October 2015, Northrop shares have nearly doubled, outpacing industry rivals over the same period. If you invest, will you be purchasing any shares?