Northrop Grumman hopes its efforts to make more B-21 Raiders faster will encourage the Air Force to expand the final fleet size of the advanced stealth bomber.
B-21 production
There's a growing consensus among experts, lawmakers, and Pentagon leaders that the Air Force should buy more than the planned minimum of 100 B-21 stealth bombers. Exactly how many more is a question USAF will likely answer in its 2028 budget request, the service’s top ...
Operations Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury make this crystal clear: Bombers that can precisely deliver large payloads halfway around the world are crucial assets. Given the small size and advanced age of America’s current bomber inventory, it is time to boost investment in the B-21 Raider to ensure long range strike remains a viable option at scale for the foreseeable future.
The U.S. military struck a $4.5 billion deal last month to increase the rate of production on its new B-21 bomber. Now officials are considering whether they will open up an entire second production line to go even faster in constructing the sixth-generation stealth Raider.
The Air Force and Northrop Grumman have struck a $4.5 billion deal to increase production on the B-21 Raider bomber by 25 percent. Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink announced the completed deal during his Feb. 23 keynote address to open AFA’s Warfare ...
In order to deny China “sanctuaries” from which it can launch air and missile salvos during a potential invasion of Taiwan, the U.S. Air Force needs to buy far more B-21 bombers and F-47 fighters than currently planned, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for ...
Northrop Grumman expects to strike a deal with the Air Force to accelerate B-21 bomber production by the end of March, CEO Kathy Warden said Jan. 27.
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. ...
A second B-21 bomber will fly soon, and production increases are a recognition of a changing global environment and the important of long-range strike, according to Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, head of Air Force Global Strike Command.
A work pause on the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program is over, and Northrop Grumman has moved into negotiations with the Air Force about accelerating B-21 bomber production, company officials said July 22.
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.
Northrop Grumman took a $477 million loss on the B-21 bomber program in the first quarter; executives said the expense will both cover unexpected materials costs and make it possible to accelerate production of the aircraft, if that’s something the Air Force wants to do.
