A two-week exercise called Eagle Flag wrapped up at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, N.J. The exercise, designed to help airmen prepare for expeditionary deployments, concluded on Oct. 28. Participants were tested on a wide range of expeditionary combat support skills. Besides working to build a base from the ground up, Eagle Flag 06-01 participants faced simulated enemy threats such as chemical attacks.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.