The Air Force is seeing the unit cost of the B-21 Raider, its next stealth bomber, come down after negotiations with manufacturer Northrop Grumman, the service’s secretary said Tuesday. Frank Kendall told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense that the cost decline shows the negotiations are “going in the right direction.” When the first B-21 was unveiled to the public in December 2022, the Air Force said it was staying under its inflation-adjusted average procurement unit cost of $692 million. An Air Force spokesperson declined to say what the bomber’s unit costs are now, citing its classification.
As the B-21′s development continues and moves into low-rate initial production, the Air Force is trying to make sure it plans for all aspects of the program. Meanwhile, the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program is not seeing the same cost decline. The expected price tag of the Sentinel program has grown at least 37% to more than $130 billion, triggering a critical Nunn-McCurdy breach. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Allvin said Tuesday the Pentagon’s decision on the Sentinel review will likely come in July.
A Nunn-McCurdy review process can also lead to a program being canceled, but top Air Force officials have repeatedly said the Sentinel — slated to replace the aging LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM — is too important to cancel. The Air Force remains committed to recapitalizing its ICBM program, which allows a quicker response than nuclear bombers and submarines. Other parts of the Air Force’s modernization efforts, such as next-generation tankers and transport planes, are likely to take a back seat to its nuclear bombers and ICBMs recapitalization efforts. If nuclear modernization gets delayed, there could be ripple effects on other aircraft recapitalization plans.
