The US Department of the Air Force (DAF) and Northrop Grumman have broken ground on a new final assembly facility for the B-21 Raider at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.
The project will add more than one million square feet of facilities and support the planned 25% increase in annual production capacity for the long-range strike aircraft.
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In February this year, the DAF and Northrop Grumman finalised an agreement to increase manufacturing capacity for the next-generation stealth bomber.
The DAF is applying $4.5bn authorised and appropriated under fiscal 2025 reconciliation legislation to accelerate production of the approved acquisition profile of 100 B-21 aircraft.
B-21 Systems program director, Rapid Capabilities Office Colonel Nicholas Jordan said: “The B-21 team has established the foundation to accelerate production responsibly. This investment in Palmdale will provide the infrastructure, workforce and manufacturing capacity needed to deliver the Raider to the Air Force at an increased rate.”
The B-21 Raider, a sixth-generation stealth bomber, is currently undergoing flight testing. It is being developed to integrate advanced stealth technology, network-enabled command and control, and a range of strike, surveillance, and electronic attack systems.
According to the Air Force, the aircraft is planned to be nuclear-capable, configurable for both crewed and uncrewed missions, and able to deploy a wide array of guided munitions.
As part of the overall expansion, the DAF reaffirmed that the B-21 programme remains on schedule, with the first operational aircraft expected to be based at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, in 2027.
The transition from prototype demonstration to full-scale manufacturing is expected to be supported by the new infrastructure at Plant 42.
The breaking ground at Palmdale follows a separate contract awarded to Conti Federal, worth $49.8m, for the construction of 80 environmental protection shelters at Ellsworth AFB.
These shelters are intended to support operational needs of the B-21 programme and further signal the acceleration of preparations for service entry.
