The fleet of bombers operated by the U.S. Air Force is precarious, with its overall ability to conduct strikes eroding as airframes age and unexpected mishaps arise. A year ago, a landing gear well fire in one B-2 Spirit stealth bomber caused the entire fleet of B-2s to be grounded for five months. Now, according to the Pentagon, the damaged B-2 will be permanently retired; the cost of its repair was judged “uneconomical.” This decision reduces the B-2 fleet to only 19 aircraft, and of those, only an estimated 16 are believed to be mission-capable at any time.
The fleet is so fragile that the loss of one aircraft translates to a serious degradation in strategic bomber capability for the Air Force. With no more than half the B-2s worldwide available for operations daily, there is little leeway to question the fleet’s ability to absorb losses on the modern battlefield. Retirement of the damaged B-2 further shrinks the U.S. bomber fleet to its smallest size since the Air Force’s inception in 1947, now standing at 140 aircraft.
Since first fielded in 1986, the B-1B Lancer has been the workhorse of the Air Force’s ability to strike. The B-1B fleet hasn’t been without issues, even with recent upgrades to launch Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles and experimental hypersonic weapons. Accidents and retirements have plagued the aging fleet—only 45 B-1Bs remain, with full fleet retirement coming within the decade.
The over half-century-old B-52 Stratofortress stays in service and will remain there into the 2050s. The B-52 makes up nearly half of today’s bomber fleet, with 58 airframes remaining in service as of 2023. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain because of advanced age, and available mission readiness is capped until planned modernization work is completed. Second, the B-52 is not being fitted with any kind of stealth capability, which greatly constrains its potential missions.
During all this decline, the B-21 Raider is a silver lining in the force structure. The next-generation medium stealth bomber is holding to cost and is on track for successful production and deployment. Yet, the aircraft could still take a big funding cut in the FY 2025 budget by the Pentagon, delaying essential deliveries and raising costs.
The Bombers Directorate is the organization inside the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center responsible for the modernization and sustainment of the USAF bomber fleet, including the B-21 program. This 1,000-member Directorate executes $16 billion and delivers combat capability in support of AFGSC and the United States Air Force.
The B-21 Raider is being developed as part of a larger family of long-range strike systems, both manned with unmanned operations, applying a broad mix of stand-off and direct attack munitions to include other capabilities such as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; electronic attack; communication; and other capacities. According to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, no other bomber in the world has such a range as the B-21, and the aircraft was designed to be maintainable so that it is ready when called upon.
The B-21 Raider brings an opportunity of a lifetime to update America’s bomber fleet. As Congress works on next year’s defense budget request, the importance of fully funding the B-21 program remains imprinted on cost and schedule targets. On-schedule delivery of the next-generation bomber will be influential in restoring the American bomber fleet in size and strength.