An Air National Guard C-130 crew deployed from the 144th Airlift Squadron in Alaska to Afghanistan makes the first combat air drop employing the Joint Precision Air Drop System (JPADS), which has been under develop by the Air Force and Army since 1993.
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.