The U.S. Air Force will soon announce the contractor selected to produce a new generation of long-range bombers to replace its aging Cold War-era bombers.

A Rockwell B-1 Lancer bomber at the Davis-Monthan maintenance facility in Tucson, Arizona (photo: AFP)

One of three major American arms manufacturers—Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin—will be the recipient of a multi-billion dollar contract for the U.S. Air Force's Long-Range Bomber (LRSB) development program.

Under the LRSB program, one of the three contractors will produce approximately 80 to 100 strategic bombers to replace the U.S. Air Force's B-52 and B-1 bombers. Each new bomber will cost approximately $550 million.

Military experts say that, unlike the previous generation, the new generation of long-range bombers will be equipped with modern equipment capable of scouting and gathering information about targets.

According to aviation military expert Richard Aboulafia, the generations of aircraft under the LRSB program are designed with movable wings to avoid radar detection, along with electronic signal receiving equipment and jamming devices to avoid detection by enemy aircraft.

According to Dan Tri