P-38 pilots from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, intercept and shoot down two Mitsubishi “Betty” bombers over Bougainville. The aerial ambush kills Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the Pearl Harbor attack.
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.
