Although forward units have been resupplied from weapons depots and “new production,” an Air Force spokeswoman said on Monday on?going operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria have left inventories “below our desired objective.” The Air Force has worked with the Army to “re-prioritize” deliveries of Hellfire missiles—used by MQ-9 Reaper drones and Army attack helicopters—and is “working a procurement plan to increase production to reconstitute munitions stocks as quickly as possible,” she said. USAF has released more than 20,000 weapons against ISIS in 15 months. US Central Command spokesman Col. Steve Warren in mid-December downplayed the shortage, saying “we have no concern whatsoever about the stockpile of munitions. We have enough munitions to conduct all the operation[s] we need to conduct, as well as maintain a contingency…” (Warren transcript.)
Multiple B-21s are undergoing ground tests and being prepared to join the two aircraft now in test flight, and the Northrop Grumman is negotiating with the Air Force about how expanded production for the bomber could be accomplished, president and CEO Kathy Warden said Oct. 21. She also suggested a…
