USAF confirms near-term second B-21 flight while Sentinel program pivots to new silo construction

USAF confirms near-term second B-21 flight while Sentinel program pivots to new silo construction

Published:

September 12, 2025

/

Updated:

September 12, 2025

Aircraft

Lena Kovacs

Photo by Giancarlo Casem

The Air Force expects a second B-21 Raider test aircraft to take to the air before the end of 2025.

Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara, the service’s deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, said the team is pushing with urgency but will stay on an event-based test plan. “I believe it will happen before the end of the year, but we’re not going to ever give them an artificial date that they have to make if it doesn’t bring the test program along to where they need to be. We’re going to proceed as we can, efficiently, effectively, and with a sense of urgency, but we’re also going to be event-based,” he said.

His comments came in late August during a public discussion focused on nuclear modernization. The B-21’s first flight occurred in November 2023, launching the flight test campaign out of Edwards Air Force Base in California. 

Since then, the pre-production test jet has flown regularly, with officials and industry leaders describing a cadence that reached up to two sorties per week last fall. That tempo supported envelope expansion, mission system checkouts and ground-to-air integration tasks common to new bomber programs.

Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor, moved from flight test into early production last year after receiving the go-ahead to build initial lots. Company leaders now describe ongoing talks with the Air Force on how to increase the build rate without disrupting the test program.

According to industry sources, the discussions cover workforce, tooling, and supplier throughput at Palmdale and downstream sites that feed the bomber’s low-observable structure and systems.

The program’s benchmark quantity remains at least 100 aircraft. Senior leaders have floated higher numbers in public venues, up to 145, while cautioning any change requires budget stability and proof that the manufacturing system can sustain a higher rate. Gebara left that debate open, saying it will take time before the department decides whether to increase the quantity.

B-21 production ramp and $4.5 billion funding in reconciliation law

Congress injected an additional 4.5 billion dollars for B-21 capacity through this summer’s reconciliation law, signed on July 4. The budget targets factory acceleration and supplier expansion tied to long-lead materials, coatings, mission systems and test support equipment.

Defense officials confirm those funds are distinct from the baseline production and RDT&E lines in the fiscal 2026 request. Northrop executives told investors in late July they are working with the Air Force on a potential ramp, while noting any acceleration will require early investments in people and tooling.

The funding plus-up came as the program cleared several near-term gates. Test teams at Edwards reported steady progress through 2024 and into 2025, including repeat flights for data collection, subsystem maturity work and reliability growth.

The reconciliation money does not automatically translate into a higher annual output. It does underwrite the infrastructure and supplier rate increases needed if the department orders a steeper curve. According to industry sources, several critical vendors are already building ahead on specific composite substructures and apertures to avoid bottlenecks if the government sets a faster lot cadence in the next budget cycle.

The Air Force states the average procurement unit cost will be lower than past stealth bomber programs, partly due to digital engineering, common subsystems and plans for a long production run.

The Air Force aims to field the first unit in the latter half of the decade. Officials haven’t released dates, and Gebara’s remarks back an event-based plan.

Sentinel ICBM restructure shifts to new silos and resumes site work

Gebara addressed the LGM-35A Sentinel program, which replaces the Minuteman III. Sentinel triggered a Nunn-McCurdy breach last year after the projected price rose to roughly 141 billion dollars, about 81 percent above the earlier estimate. 

The Department of Defense certified the program to continue after a formal review and directed a restructure. Since then, the Air Force and Northrop reached an agreement that allowed site work tied to launch facilities to resume this summer.

One of the major shifts is the approach to real estate and civil works. The department now expects to construct most silos new rather than refurbish the legacy Minuteman holes. Officials said that the decision avoids the operational and safety complications of modifying active silos that sit inside current missile fields. It should also reduce the outages and convoy movements that would come with taking existing sites offline for extended periods.

Gebara argued the new-build path will save time and money across the program’s full arc, not inflate them, because it trades rework for repeatable construction on standard designs.

Most of the new silos will be located on federal land already held within the missile complexes in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. In some areas, the government will have to acquire parcels to meet spacing, access, and security needs.

B61-12 deployment in Europe and F-35A nuclear certification context

Gebara declined to say whether U.S. nuclear weapons have returned to the United Kingdom after a long gap. He did state the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb is “fully deployed throughout the continent.” His remarks matched earlier public comments from Jill Hruby in January when she led the National Nuclear Security Administration. She stated that the bombs are fully forward deployed, and NATO partners have increased visibility into the deterrent posture through routine engagements.

The policy remains unchanged on location details. NATO and U.S. officials do not confirm warhead storage sites. Open-source observers pointed to a C-17 mission to RAF Lakenheath in July and interpreted it as a movement of nuclear stores. Government officials did not comment.

What can be documented is the delivery system side. Defense officials confirm the F-35A is certified to employ the B61-12, joining other dual-capable aircraft. That certification followed years of flight tests, design reviews and nuclear surety checks. The bomb itself completed its life extension activities, consolidating older B61 variants into a guided weapon with updated electronics and a tail kit.

The Raider is planned to be nuclear-capable once testing and certifications are finished. Program documents show nuclear integration tasks inside the broader test plan, though neither the Air Force nor the contractor discuss those details in public.

According to our analysis, the late-summer statements add up to three updates with real steps behind them. First, the B-21 test team believes it can get a second jet in the air by year’s end. Second, the production system has new money to clear bottlenecks before they bite. Third, the Sentinel enterprise aims to avoid the worst rework in old silos. None of this settles the long-range questions on fleet size, exact delivery profiles or future basing. It does set the next actions the department and industry will be judged on in the coming months.

REFERENCE SOURCES

https://www.afgsc.af.mil/Sentinel-GBSD/

https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2025-08-28/air-force-b-21-raider-18904487.html

https://investor.northropgrumman.com/static-files/7fdede9b-b18c-415b-9eb9-e474cbce608f

https://breakingdefense.com/2024/09/b-21-raider-bomber-shows-off-in-new-video-flying-up-to-twice-a-week/

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3829985/department-of-defense-announces-results-of-sentinel-nunn-mccurdy-review/

https://breakingdefense.com/2025/06/sentinel-icbm-first-flight-date-now-in-flux-service-says/

https://breakingdefense.com/2024/03/exclusive-f-35a-officially-certified-to-carry-nuclear-bomb/

https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-administrator-jill-hruby-remarks-hudson-institute

https://breakingdefense.com/2025/05/air-force-now-expects-sentinel-icbms-will-predominantly-need-new-silos/

https://www.defenseone.com/defense-systems/2025/08/second-b-21-will-fly-years-end-usaf-says/407726/

The post USAF confirms near-term second B-21 flight while Sentinel program pivots to new silo construction appeared first on defense-aerospace.

Go to Source