OREANDA-NEWS. The following is a statement by Randy Belote, vice president of strategic communications for Northrop Grumman Corporation:

Northrop Grumman is pleased that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied Boeing's protest and reaffirmed the Air Force's decision to award Northrop Grumman the Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) contract. This confirms that the U.S. Air Force conducted an extraordinarily thorough selection process and selected the most capable and affordable solution.

The LRS-B is vitally important to national security and we are delighted to be resuming work on the next-generation Long-Range Strike Bomber.