More than 73 top acquisition, logistics, and sustainment officials from Air Force Materiel Command and the private sector met at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, recently to help plot the command’s future at its fifth “Sustainment Transformation Senior Leadership Conference.” One specific outcome: Gen. Bruce Carlson, AFMC commander, wants command leaders to recommend two processes for improvement by Feb. 9 and to provide a progress update during the command’s upcoming March commander’s conference. Carlson said that he wants “unprecedented cross-functional integration” leading to “previously unimagined success.”
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.