The USAF and Northrop Grumman communicated on February 23 the reaching of an agreement for the use of $4.5 billion in funding authorized and appropriated under the Fiscal Year 2025 reconciliation legislation, announced by the Trump Administration as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
This funding will support measures to accelerate the annual production capacity for the B-21 RAIDER bomber by 25%, “compressing delivery timelines while preserving cost and performance discipline”.
The result will be an acceleration to the approved acquisition profile, although quantifying the results is difficult because the B-21 bombed is a strategic “special access project” which publishes only limited information in public documents. Department of War budget documentation, for example, does not disclose the number of jets being ordered.
Prior to the full authorization of the use of a full $152 billion in Reconciliation funding, the Fiscal Year 2026 documentation showed the B-21 receiving a combined 4.69 billion USD in funding between Discretionary and Mandatory (Reconciliation) funds. This money covers procurement of an undisclosed number of new bombers in FY26 plus Long Lead orders for materials in support of following years’ production.
The first pre-production B-21 flight we know about dates back to 2023, with the second pre-production bomber flying last year. Both of these aircraft are now serving in Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California, supporting flying testing. Northrop Grumman notes that “multiple” B-21s are flying in support of testing and development, potentially including a number of machines pre-dating the Edwards ones. An undetailed number of non-flying airframes are also in use: airframe G-1, for example, is known to be undergoing simulated life stress testing.
The first operational B-21 is expected to arrive at Ellsworth Air Force Base in 2027. The roll out over the coming years will then see deliveries to Whiteman AFB, Missouri, and Dyess AFB in Texas. Whiteman is “home” for the B-2 SPIRIT fleet of 509th Bomb Wing, while Dyess currently has the 7th Bomb Wing with the B-1 LANCER.
It is understood that Northrop Grumman has already been awarded at least 3 Low Rate Initial Production contracts but there is uncertainty on the total number of aircraft involved and their distribution through the lots.
President Trump is on record having claimed publicly in October 2025 that “28 B-2s” had been ordered by that point. While he mentioned the B-2, he was obviously referring to the B-21. At the beginning of this month, President Trump said in another occasion that another 25 had “just” been ordered. It’s not clear what orders he was referring to, whether LRIP contracts finalized so far or aircraft required in the future years, beginning in FY 2026 and 2027 (the next budget being prepared).
In 2024, there had already been 21 bombers in order according to official sources. In November 2023, Northrop Grumman had communicated that it had 6 bombers already being assembled (including presumably the already mentioned 2nd test airframe which eventually flew to Edwards last year, as mentioned previously).
Northrop and USAF were reportedly in agreement for an unitary cost of $550 million for the first 21 jets (note, in 2010 Dollars value), with a follow-on commitment by Northrop to guarantee a ‘non exceed’ cost for another 19. In 2022, in then-year dollars, the USAF had indicated unitary price as 692 million.
The Program of Record still calls officially for 100 bombers, but this is seen now more as a starting point than a ceiling, with repeated calls to get up to 200. The B-21 is destined to entirely replace the B-2 and B-1 fleets, while 75 B-52s will continue to serve long into the future after being modernized and re-engined, reaching the standard J. B-2 and B-1 are expected to bow out already by 2032.
The B-21s are assembled inside Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, while testing is the responsibility of the 420th Flight Test Squadron in Edwards. B-21 infrastructure building is in progress, in particular at Ellsworth, with publication early this month of the solicitation for the project for the building of the 6 B-21 Environmental Protection Shelters (EPS) in the area of the base known as “Row 80”. Each EPS is a pre-engineered metal structure offering circa 20,000 square foot of space for B-21 general maintenance. Site plans published earlier for Ellsworth showed another 10 EPS in the “Row 60” area. Build of a first, prototype EPS had been completed at Ellsworth in 2021.
A great number of other facilities are planned or in build, including a 2-bay Low Observable Restoration Facility; a 2-bay Washrack and General Maintenance Hangar; a dedicate Mission Operations Planning Facility (MPF); Field Training Detachment Facility (FTD); Formal Training Unit (FTU); Flight Simulator Facility (adding to or altering existing facility) plus conversion of several existing buildings, including the historical, iconic “Pride” hangar being repurposed to house aviation ground equipment, specifically including Weapons Loader Training (WLT) bays complete with fuselage mock-ups.
The firm Conti Federal is currenly under contract in five different deals to deliver several key pieces of support infrastructure: the Phase Maintenance Hangar (2-bay plus workshops), Radio Frequency Hangar (single bay, equipped to measure B-21 RF signature), Weapons Loader Training Facility (Pride hangar), Fuel Systems Maintenance Dock and restructuring of the existing Dock 81 which becomes part of the fuel systems maintenance facility. In July 2025 it was awarded a sixth deal, for a first 5 EPS structures.
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