MELBOURNE, Fla. – Brevard County will see 2,000 jobs with a new contract between Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force.
"This is a whole new generation of high technology that will take us in past the enemy defenses, because they can't see it," U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said.
Northrop Grumman on Monday welcomed a new Air Force contract to design the long-range strike bomber. Northrop Grumman's B-2 Spirit is currently the world's only stealth bomber. This new model is expected to replace the U.S. Air Force's entire bomber fleet. Design and development details for the bomber are classified.
The U.S. Defense Department previously estimated engineering and development costs at around $21 billion. ?Florida Gov. Rick Scott called the contract a win for Central Florida, and said his new tax plan will only help further the area's success.
"We were able to put up money to make sure that they were able to expand here, and it worked," Scott said.
The space shuttle program that helped support high-tech jobs in Melbourne ended several years ago. Many people at Monday's conference said this is a new opportunity for qualified engineers in Brevard County.
"We're talking about 10 years from now when this production will be off the line, so we're looking toward the future, but that's the future of warfare is high technology," Nelson said.