The U.S. Air Force has removed its top weapons buyer for failing to disclose a financial connection to defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp.
The service on Thursday announced that Richard Lombardi, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, "was reassigned to duties outside of the Air Force acquisition portfolio" after failing to report "a Northrop Grumman retirement account held by his spouse in his annual public financial disclosure form," according to a statement from Lt. Col. Christopher Karns, a spokesman for the service at the Pentagon.
Northrop in October won a major contract to build the U.S. military's future fleet of stealth bombers.
A team led by Northrop, maker of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber and drone aircraft, beat out another led by Boeing Co., the world's largest aerospace company, and Lockheed Martin Corp., the world's largest defense contractor, for the $21.4 billion initial contract as part of the Air Force's Long Range Strike Bomber, or LRS-B, program.
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