As reported by the service’s Secretary, the US Air Force has reduced budget projections for its next-generation stealth bomber, the Northrop Grumman B-21 RAIDER, by under $2 billion over the next 2 fiscal years.

In accordance with the USAF sources, it has been a rare example of successful cost-cutting for the Pentagon, thanks in part to lower prices negotiated with contractors without any reductions in program quantities or scope. In detail, for the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) the procurement funding will see a reduction of $1.3 billion from the $4 billion projected, and another $600 million in FY26.

The procurement funding includes the basic aircraft, or “flyway” costs, support equipment, training, initial spares, and engineering change orders. However, due to the secretive program’s high levels of classification, no specific details have been released about the elements that will be impacted by the renegotiation. Neither, the USAF has yet to disclose how many aircraft are on contract to date. As the B-21′s development continues and moves into low-rate initial production, the USAF is also working hard to build the entire support chain to its new warplane by preparing the facilities needed to operate and maintain it, training the pilots and other personnel, and setting up simulators.

Not all pillars of the US nuclear triad have had the RAIDER cost reduction success, the LGM-35A SENTINEL intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program, has grown at least 37%, largely due to the massively complex construction projects it will require. It is now expected to cost more than $130 billion, from the earlier $96 billion estimate, triggering a review of the program, this time at the Department of Defense level. Holding the results of this review, it is likely that other areas of the US Air Force’s modernization efforts, such as next-generation tankers and transport planes, should take a back seat or be sidelined for the near future.

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