Air Force, industry leaders break ground on expanded B-21 Raider production facility

The Air Force says it plans to acquire at least 100 of the bombers, which will ultimately replace the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit fleets. A second B-21 Raider, the nation’s sixth-generation stealth bomber, joins flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 11, 2025. (U.S. Air Force) Air Force and defense industry officials grabbed shovels to turn earth last week at the groundbreaking for a 1 million-square-foot assembly line addition at Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., where the B-21 Raider bomber is manufactured. The site, about 60 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, is close to Edwards Air Force Base, where the first two models of the stealth bomber are undergoing flight tests.

“The B-21 Raider is foundational to the Air Force’s future long-range strike capability, and this investment strengthens the industrial capacity required to field that capability faster,” said Gen. Dale White, the director of Critical Major Weapon Systems and Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for the Defense Department. The effort is part of a $4.5 billion effort by the Air Force and Northrop Grumman to increase annual B-21 production capacity by 25%. The B-21 first flew in 2023. The Air Force says its timeline for the bomber calls for the first operational aircraft to be delivered to squadrons at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota