Afghanistan continued to be the hot spot for airstrikes May 11 in US Central Command’s area of responsibility, according to Air Forces Central. On that day, F-15Es hit enemy combatants and their fighting positions with a 500-pound laser-guided bomb, 500-pound joint direct attack munitions, and 2,000-pound JDAMs in the vicinity of Asadabad, AFCENT said in a May 12 release. Further, A-10s fired cannon rounds and dropped general purpose 500-pound bombs on enemy combatants and enemy positions in Nangalam. And an A-10 took out enemy combatants in Bagram with 500-pound LGBs. Meanwhile, AFCENT detailed a sole strike May 11 in Iraq, with a Navy F/A-18C hitting an enemy position in Al Amarah with a 500-pound JDAM.
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.