On October 16, 2026, the Air Force sent Congress a report that lists "developing air-to-air capabilities on bombers" as one option for its shrinking fighter force. Three days later, The War Zone measured the B-21 Raider in a satellite image and put its wingspan at about 152 feet, roughly 20 feet less than the B-2 it is meant to replace. And on September 29, the Air Force and Northrop Grumman broke ground on a new final assembly line in Palmdale to raise annual production capacity by 25 percent. In this video, we walk around the B-21 from the nose to the tail. We look at the B-2 it replaces and what Operation Midnight Hammer showed, the 2015 contract and the Raider name, the 2022 rollout, the two flight-test aircraft at Edwards, the $692 million average unit cost, the plan for at least 100 bombers, and the first arrival at Ellsworth Air Force Base in 2027, plus what the report to Congress actually says, and what it doesn't.
Source: The Air Force's New B – 2 Replacement Is INSANE – B – 21 Raider
