Taking B-1Bs Down Under: Three Air Force B-1B bombers deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, recently flew more than 7,000 miles and 16 hours to participate in Australia’s Aces South exercise with the Royal Australian Air Force. The B-1Bs of the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron flew round-robin missions from Guam to Australia, where they each flew one sortie as “red” team bombers conducting anti-ship strikes. The Aussie “blue” forces comprised F/A-18s and F-111s. This was the first participation by USAF B-1 bombers in the Australian exercise.
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.
