U.S. Air Force to accelerate B-21 Raider production to boost U.S. strategic bomber fleet.

The U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman are nearing an agreement to accelerate B-21 Raider production, while maintaining the program of record at a minimum of 100 stealth bombers.

As reported by Inside Defense on February 18, 2026, the U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman are nearing an agreement to accelerate B-21 Raider production, according to statements by CEO Kathy Warden. The program remains in low-rate initial production with five lots totaling 21 B-21 stealth bombers. A $4.5 billion capacity expansion and additional company investment aim to increase manufacturing throughput, while maintaining the program of record at a minimum of 100 aircraft.
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The B-21 Raider is designed as a dual-capable penetrating stealth bomber intended to replace the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit by 2040 and potentially the B-52 Stratofortress thereafter. (Picture source: U.S. Air Force)

Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden said the program is transitioning toward production, while multiple aircraft are already in testing, and that performance in modeling has been better than expected. The company and the Air Force are working on a growth framework intended to raise the delivery tempo, with Warden indicating optimism that a formal agreement could be reached before the end of the current fiscal quarter on March 31. She framed the pending arrangement as a practical step to raise output, rather than as an announced change to the baseline fleet objective, which remains at least 100 B-21s.

The B-21 is currently in low-rate initial production, structured across five lots totaling 21 aircraft, and the exact annual production rate remains classified. Publicly circulated figures have suggested output near seven aircraft per year, though that number is distinct from the total quantity allocated across the five low-rate lots. Warden confirmed that Northrop received the contract for the third low-rate lot in the final quarter of 2025 and that the company also received a contract for advanced procurement for the fifth lot, indicating long-lead production activity. She cited the first flight of a second B-21 test aircraft as a milestone demonstrating progress as the program moves from development toward expanded manufacturing.

Congress approved $4.5 billion for the expansion of B-21 production capacity in a reconciliation package passed in July, and the Air Force’s fiscal 2026 budget request outlined plans to spend the full amount during the fiscal year. Of that total, nearly $2.4 billion is allocated to research and development and $2.1 billion to procurement, reflecting a mix of engineering, tooling, and manufacturing-related actions. Despite this funding, the Air Force has not disclosed any metric specifying how much production would be expanded. It has also remained unclear whether acceleration is intended to exceed the 100-aircraft program of record or to reach that baseline quantity more rapidly.

Northrop Grumman has indicated it plans to invest between $2 billion and $3 billion over multiple years to support acceleration, describing the spending as necessary to facilitate increased production capacity. The company previously announced it had spent $477 million on process changes designed to enable a higher production rate, suggesting that manufacturing adjustments were already underway before a new agreement is finalized. Industrial scaling in this context typically involves expansion of facilities, workforce growth, tooling acquisition, and supplier throughput, particularly at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, where the B-21 is built. The combination of government funding and company investment frames acceleration as a coordinated effort between public and private financing streams.

Recent congressional action introduced additional budget complexity, with lawmakers moving to cut $620 million from B-21 procurement in the proposed base fiscal 2026 budget while adding $409 million to research and development, resulting in a net cut of $211 million. The Air Force has stated that the B-21 program of record has not changed and confirmed that the program remains in low-rate initial production. No further public details have been provided regarding how the base-budget adjustments interact with the separate $4.5 billion production-capacity expansion. As a result, the program is simultaneously navigating acceleration planning and rebalancing within the standard appropriations framework.

The B-21 is designed as a dual-capable penetrating stealth bomber intended to replace the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit by 2040 and potentially the B-52 Stratofortress thereafter. It conducted its first flight in November 2023 and is expected to enter service by 2027, with early production aircraft described as production-representative models intended for testing and later operational conversion. Reported characteristics include a wingspan of 40 meters, a length of 16 meters, an empty weight of about 31,751 kilograms, a maximum takeoff weight of 81,647 kilograms, a maximum weapon load of 9,100 kilograms, and a maximum speed exceeding Mach 0.8. The aircraft is intended for both conventional and nuclear missions and is positioned within a broader family of systems that includes electronic attack, communications, and other capabilities.

The strategic context surrounding acceleration includes ongoing debate about the appropriate size of the future bomber fleet, with the current minimum objective set at 100 aircraft but some discussions referencing higher figures. Separate defense discussions have cited numbers ranging from 145 aircraft to 200 aircraft in broader force-structure debates, and a February 4, 2026 study from the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies argued that planned B-21 and F-47 numbers would be insufficient for sustained high-intensity operations in a Taiwan scenario. In Australia, defense experts in August 2024 proposed seeking access to the B-21 as a complementary capability amid projected AUKUS submarine lifecycle costs of $268 billion to $368 billion and operational timelines extending into the 2040s, arguing the bomber could provide earlier long-range strike capability. These external debates underscore why production-rate acceleration has operational and strategic implications beyond factory throughput.

Parallel to the B-21 acceleration effort, Northrop Grumman leadership stated that production of the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile is not expected to begin soon, as the program remains in development and is undergoing restructuring following a Nunn-McCurdy breach. Officials said that had Sentinel continued on its previous trajectory it would have been 81% over budget and three years late, leading to a decision to restructure and delay transition into engineering and manufacturing development. Warden said Northrop is supporting the Air Force as it firms revised schedules for Milestone B, initial operating capability, and final operating capability, with production expected later in the decade and dependent on milestone achievement. In this context, the B-21 acceleration effort stands as the near-term industrial scaling initiative within the broader U.S. nuclear triad modernization.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.