A US Air Force B-1B bomber providing close air support near Musah Qal’eh in Afghanistan Tuesday fired a GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition on Taliban extremists engaging coalition ground forces with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades—the attack stopped. French Air Force M-2000s also provided CAS during the encounter. This encounter (and the one below) follows hard on the heels of the A-10 air strike conducted Monday on a Taliban compound.
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.