A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle on May 20 dropped 2,000-pound GBU-31 and 500-pound GBU-38 joint direct attack munitions on enemy combatants fighting friendly forces in Asadabad, Afghanistan, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials in a May 21 release from Southwest Asia. And, on the same day, in Lwara, USAF A-10s and F-15Es struck enemy combatants using laser-guided GBU-12 Paveway II and GBU-31 munitions and an unidentified 500-pound bomb. Joint terminal attack controllers deemed the strikes successful.
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.