The US Department of the Air Force and Northrop Grumman Corp. have agreed to expand production capacity for the B-21 Raider stealth bomber by 25%, using $4.5bn in funding already authorised under fiscal year 2025 reconciliation legislation, the Department of the Air Force announced on February 23.

The agreement accelerates the existing acquisition schedule, compressing delivery timelines for the Air Force's next-generation long-range strike aircraft while the programme remains on track to place aircraft at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in 2027.

"By increasing production capacity now, we are responsibly accelerating delivery of a critical, combat-effective capability to the warfighter," said General Dale R. White, director of Critical Major Weapon Systems.

The B-21 programme delivered aircraft on schedule in 2025 and is currently in flight testing. The aircraft is designed to penetrate heavily contested environments and features advanced stealth, resilient networking, and a data-driven command-and-control architecture.

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said the decision was driven by the need to deliver operational capability to commanders at a pace with the current security environment.

"Accelerating production capacity now ensures we deliver operational capability to combatant commanders faster — strengthening our ability to outpace, deter, and, if necessary, defeat emerging threats," he said.

However, there is no indication that any B-21 Raiders have been deployed to the Middle East so far amid the ongoing military build up across the Persian Gulf. The US Air Force has said they remain in flight testing and early production in the US, with first operational aircraft expected around later in 2026.

Initial Operational Capability (IOC) is targeted for around 2026-2027 in optimistic assessments, but sources consistently describe the aircraft as not yet fielded, still in test configuration that could, in theory, support combat if needed, with no evidence of that happening.

The first operational B-21s are production-representative models for testing and eventual conversion.