US airmen and soldiers are in Pakistan, beginning Operation Promise Keeping, the follow-up to last year’s earthquake disaster response effort. USAF C-130s have started delivering building supplies, part of some $206 million in US aid pledged over the next four years. US Army helicopters are slated to ferry the materials to the remote northern parts of Pakistan hit by the earthquake.
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.
