The Air Force is paying Lockheed Martin $50 million to manufacture GBU-12 laser-guided bomb kits—which convert the 500-pound free fall bombs into precision guided weapons. According to Lockheed, the order represents over half the Air Force’s requirements for the current fiscal year.
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.