Funding for development and production of the Air Force’s Long-Range Strike Bomber, now funded at about $5 billion annually, will climb gradually to about $7 billion in fiscal year ’19, then jump up to between $9 billion and $10 billion between Fiscal 2020 and Fiscal 2022, before beginning to ramp down again, according to a chart released by the Pentagon. The chart was included in the “Annual Aviation Inventory and Funding Plan, Fiscal Years 2015-2044,” which has been required by Congress as a supplement to the Pentagon’s budget request for the last several years. “The current goal is to achieve an initial capability in the mid-2020s, and to hold down the unit cost to ensure sufficient production (80-to-100 aircraft) and a sustainable bomber inventory over the far term,” according to the document. The chart shows USAF holding the legacy bomber fleet inventory (B-52, B-1B, and B-2) steady at about 160 aircraft until Fiscal ’21, then declining by about five airframes per year thereafter. During the next 10 years, USAF intends to continue modernizing its current bombers, updating the B-52 with “machine-to-machine retargeting” capability, improve sustainability of the B-1B, and increase the survivability of the B-2, according to the report.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
