The F-35 strike fighter has just added another blockbuster movie to its screen credits, and finally gets some hero treatment. It features in “Ender’s Game,” the Harrison Ford space epic that hit theaters on Nov. 1. In this film (don’t worry, no spoiler here), thousands of F-35s, circa 2040, tangle with alien ships in the skies of the Earth. In previous films—such as “The Avengers,” “Man of Steel,” “Green Lantern,” “Superman Returns,” or “Die Hard 4,” the F-35 is portrayed as ineffectual at best, and, at worst, causing a whole lot of collateral damage in various battles with the bad guys. The F-35—on film, rather than as a computer-generated image—is also likely to get heavy screen time in the planned “Top Gun II,” but that project is on hold since the death of its intended director, Tony Scott.
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.