ST. LOUIS — During a Wednesday visit to Boeing's St. Louis facilities, Defense Secretary Ash Carter was very clear that he would not be talking about the Air Force's new bomber during a visit Wednesday to Boeing's St. Louis facilities.

Widely expected to be awarded in the coming weeks, the long range strike-bomber (LRS-B) program is hotly contested between Northrop Grumman and the team of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. This late in the game, no one — on either the Boeing or Carter teams — wanted to risk any image of impropriety, let alone create a situation which could lead to a protest down the road.

But the presence of the bomber looms large in St. Louis, where many view it as crucial to the future of Boeing's local facilities.

Both t The company's F-15 and F/A-18 fighter lines are slated to end by 2020, and it's C-17 line officially shuttered production last year, leaving open the question of whether the company aerospace firm will look to close down the location if replacement production is not found.

That uncertainty was clearly on the minds of workers. During a brief question-and-answer period with Boeing staff, one worker asked: "Could you elaborate on the long-range bomber and what future that holds here in St. Louis?"

"Unfortunately, I can't," Carter said with a laugh. "That's one thing I know is very much on your mind, but that's not something we talked about today."

He then elaborated on the need to avoid any sense of impropriety with how taxpayer funds area warded, concluding: "I'm very careful to steer away from talking publically about any competitive award — it's out of respect for the integrity of the acquisition system."

Which doesn't mean that the bomber was absent from discussions, even if it was in more subtle ways.

During a part of the visit closed to reporters, Carter was scheduled to observe Boeing's "Black Diamond" manufacturing concept, which has been described in industry circles as the company's "secret weapon" for the bomber competition.

The visit is notable, as advanced manufacturing capabilities are a key part of the Pentagon's approach to the LRS-B program.

Speaking to reporters during the visit, Stu Voboril, Ddirector of Sstrategy & Pprogram Ddevelopment for Boeing's Phantom Works division, described advanced manufacturing as "the cornerstone of almost everything we do."

Voboril also showed off some of the advanced modeling and simulation capabilities of the facility, including the Immersive Development Center where Boeing designers use 3-D imaging to speed up the modeling of new designs.

While Voboril would not confirm that Phantom Works had a hand in the LRS-B design, the design group has become central to Boeing's military concepts, and hence it is highly unlikely it would have been sidelined on such a technologically advanced program.

Email: amehta@defensenews.com

Twitter: @AaronMehta

About Aaron Mehta

Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.

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