B-21 Bomber Is Under Budget So Far

An artist's rendering shows a B-21 Raider in a hangar at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., one of the future bases to host the new airframe. (Courtesy of Northrop Grumman)

Bloomberg: B-21 Bomber Delivers Pentagon Surprise: It’s Under Budget So Far

(Bloomberg) -- Northrop Grumman Corp.’s cost estimate for developing the new B-21 stealth bomber has come in lower than the US Air Force’s $25.1 billion projection, according to the service’s chief weapons buyer, a rare early-stage success story among major weapons programs that routinely run billions over budget.

“We had money in the program budget that went beyond the contractually required payments” so that “gave us the opportunity” to target the money for early spending on riskier aspects of the program, Andrew Hunter, assistant secretary for acquisition, said in an interview.

How much Northrop was able to save is classified, as are most details about the Air Force’s next-generation bomber. The service has estimated that the B-21 is likely to cost at least $203 billion to develop, purchase and then operate 100 aircraft over 30 years.

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WNU Editor: The public unveiling of the Air Force’s next stealth bomber is still expected later in 2022. the first flight in 2023 .... B-21 first flight to come in 2023 (Defense News).

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