A US Air Force medical team from Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland AFB. Tex., is hard at work in Esmereldas, Ecuador conducting the location’s first Medical Readiness Training Exercise—known as MEDRETE—which concludes Friday. Two surgeons, a nurse anesthetist, two medical technicians, and an anesthesiologist are performing more than 37 operations to repair cleft lips and cleft palates after reviewing some 90 patients who came from all over Ecuador.
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.