Air Force: Test B-21s Could Fly Combat Missions, Northrop Can Expand Production at Plant 42

A production expansion of the Air Force’s next-generation bomber, the B-21 Raider, which is planned in the service’s fiscal 2026 budget, could be accommodated largely within aircraft manufacturer Northrop Grumman’s existing Palmdale, Calif., plant, according to the Air Force. The service also said that at least two of the bombers will be flying in 2026. While used for testing, they can be quickly configured for combat operations if necessary.

Both the Air Force and the Congress’s Reconciliation bill for 2026 include funding for a B-21 production increase. Asked by Air & Space Forces Magazine whether the increase could be done at existing facilities, an Air Force spokesperson said the “planned production expansion will be accomplished within the Northrop Grumman Palmdale, CA campus, as well as some Tier 1 supplier locations.”

Northrop Grumman referred all questions about the program to the Air Force.  

Northrop builds the B-21 at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., in or adjacent to facilities that were used to build the B-2 in the 1990s. While the service did not name specific “Tier 1” suppliers that will also expand production, the Air Force identified a partial list of those suppliers in 2016. They include BAE Systems in Nashua, N.H.; Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; GKN Aerospace in St. Louis, Mo.; Janicki Industries in Sedro-Woolley, Wash., and Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan. RTX’s Pratt & Whitney division also makes the B-21’s engines.

In previous answers to B-21 budget questions, the Air Force said it is “committed to the successful fielding of the B-21 and is investing in the infrastructure necessary to support an increased yearly production capacity.” The increased spending is a “proactive measure” that will ensure “the long-term health and efficiency of the production line, enabling us to deliver this critical capability to the warfighter.”

The 2026 budget request—counting research and development as well as production—totals $10.3 billion for the B-21. Of that, the reconciliation bill provided $4.5 billion to be earmarked for expanded manufacturing. None of the budget documents discussed how much faster B-21s will be built, by when, or up to what total.

The production rate of the B-21 is classified, but is believed to be 7-8 aircraft per year.

The Air Force reiterated that “specific expansion details are not available” currently in its answers on July 11

The Air Force’s comments suggest that the majority of the funds allocated for increased B-21 production capacity can be allocated to additional tooling and workforce development at existing facilities, rather than constructing new factories that require extensive security, cooling, and specialized tooling.

Northrop said in the spring that it had taken a $477 million charge on the B-21 program to cover a “process change” in production to cover “a higher production rate.”

 The Air Force has only said its B-21 production target is “at least 100” aircraft. They are intended to replace the B-2 and B-1 in the early 2030s. Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., is planned to be the B-21 schoolhouse and first operational base. Military construction at Ellsworth has been underway for three years to prepare for the arrival of the new aircraft.

When the B-21 contract was awarded to Northrop in 2015—as the then-“Long-Range Strike Bomber” program—the Air Force said the first aircraft would be flying in “the mid-2020s” and that these aircraft would be “usable assets.” Service leaders at the time stated that this meant early B-21s would be capable of conducting combat operations if called upon.

Asked if these conditions are still in force—that initial aircraft could be modified for combat quickly by removing the nose boom and other instrumentation—the Air Force responded in the affirmative.

“Yes, the program is built on producing robust test aircraft that are as close to production aircraft configuration as possible,” the spokesperson said.

The service also said that “there will be at least two test-configured aircraft in FY26,” but acknowledged that the B-21 budget tables have “errors.” The service did not say when it expects to correct the numbers in the budget documents.

Whether those first two B-21s constitute initial operational capability is still unclear.

“Air Force Global Strike Command holds final authority on determining when B-21 has achieved IOC,” a service spokesperson said, “which represents when relevant operational capability is available to Combatant Commanders. The specific criteria are classified.”

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin may not be on board with sharply accelerating the B-21 buy. He told the Senate Appropriations Committee in June that the government shouldn’t be “overly zealous” about accelerating production “beyond a certain production rate.” In last year’s budget testimony he said the service may wish to buy out the 100 or so planned B-21s and move on to new technologies.

Tom Jones, Northrop’s corporate vice president and head of its aeronautics sector, said at the Center for a New American Security in June that increasing capacity generically “really comes down to, in the case of aircraft … it’s the factories … it’s floor space, it’s tooling. Once you get that running—and your supply chain—I think you have a lot of ability to look at how you can scale, ramp production, surge.” He argued that the defense industry writ large would probably invest more in surge production capacity, but this is currently not an allowable cost in contracts. Changing that would expand capacity, he said.