Air Frame: Year in Review, October 2011: SrA. Lauren Everett, second from right, greets children in Afghanistan’s Laghman province. On Oct. 7, 2011, the nation marked the 10-year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Also in October, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey succeeded Navy Adm. Mike Mullen as Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and the UN Security Council approved a resolution ending NATO’s military activities in Libya. On Oct. 14, 2011, the Air Force, National Reconnaissance Office, and NASA released a strategy encouraging new commercial rocket suppliers to enter the market for national security space launches. Also in the month, an F-15C from Nellis AFB, Nev., crashed north of Las Vegas. The pilot was not injured. And, press reports indicated that the United States began operating MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft over Somalia. Air Force photo by SSgt. Ryan Crane
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.