Another Northrop win?

That appears to be the betting on a $2 billion contract to build unmanned spy planes for the Navy. The L.A. aerospace company's Global Hawk aircraft, which is already used by the Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan, has a better than 50 percent chance of beating out drones from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, an Oppenheimer analyst told Bloomberg. The Pentagon may name a choice this week. Unlike its upset win over Boeing for the aerial tanker contract (that one is still being appealed), Northrop is considered the favorite for the spy plane business. The Global Hawk can fly above 60,000 feet for a maximum 36 hours over a target.