The Pentagon’s $150.5 billion in fiscal 2026 reconciliation funding has $4.5 billion to accelerate production of the Air Force B-21 Raider stealth bomber, Northrop Grumman said Monday at the Air & Space Forces Association annual warfare symposium.
The Air Force’s plans have called for 100 B-21s, yet that number might increase to 145 or more, due to the aging B-52 fleet and the coming retirements of the B-2 Spirit and the B-1Bs.
“The strong performance of the B-21 program has our Northrop Grumman and Air Force team ready to accelerate production of this game-changing capability for our nation,” Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden said in a company statement on Monday.
“Northrop Grumman has invested more than $5 billion in digital engineering and manufacturing infrastructure, and we are ready to produce B-21 faster,” Warden said.
The first B-21 is to arrive at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., next year, Northrop Grumman said.
“Northrop Grumman’s robust digital environment enables effective flight test planning and real-time analysis of test data, powering an increased test cadence and efficiency as the test fleet expanded in 2025,” according to the company. “Combined Test Force maintainers can service the aircraft to execute another test flight the very next day, another positive indicator for how B-21 will perform in future operations.”
Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily first published a version of this story.