Lt. Gen. Donald Wurster, Air Force Special Operations Command boss, said Tuesday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference that one of the more remarkable recent success stories has been the command’s development and expansion of intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance tools. As combat air patrols have increased in Southwest Asia, Wurster said, the command has added MQ-9 Reapers of the 33rd Special Operations Squadron to the capability provided by the MQ-1 Predators of the 3rd SOS, as well as adding a second intelligence analysis and dissemination capability with the 56th Intelligence Squadron to that of its 11th IS. Adding this ISR capability to AFSOC “has been so successful we are in constant demand,” Wurster said.
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.