Fighter Contract Cut Set Today

With hundreds of billions of dollars on the line, four of the nation’s largest defense contractors anxiously await a preliminary Pentagon decision today on who will develop the multiservice Joint Strike Fighter.

Since the ultimate winner will probably assume the dominant role in fighter aircraft construction well into the next century, the stakes include tens of thousands of future jobs that could go to Marietta, Ga., St. Louis or Seattle.

Saturday’s decision will narrow the field to two competitors, and the winners will then develop and build prototypes in anticipation of a final decision in 1999.

“This will be the mother of all procurements,” said Micky Blackwell, aeronautics chief for Lockheed Martin Corp., one of three competing defense contractor teams. Those teams also include:

McDonnell Douglas Corp. of St. Louis; Northrop Grumman Corp., and British Aerospace.

The Boeing Co., with Rolls Royce of London. Some analysts consider Boeing a long shot because of its relative inexperience developing fighter aircraft.