US Central Command confirmed May 15 that another successful air strike had been carried out recently against enemy forces in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. The air strike—this time by A-10 aircraft and a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle assigned to Bagram Air Base—killed at least four enemy fighters and destroyed a truck and cave complex, in which they had stored rockets. (Earlier this month, a strike by F-15Es destroyed another cave complex.) Afghan National Army and US ground forces had seen men moving rockets from the cave and linked them to recent attacks on a nearby coalition base. The A-10 and Predator aircraft fired precision guided munitions against the target, sealing the cave complex.
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.
