U.S. to purchase at least 145 more B-21 stealth bombers to counter Chinese Communist Party

B-21 Raider stealth bomber

President Joe Biden’s nominee, Frank Kendall, is expected to become the next secretary of the Air Force, and he has said he will support the Air Force’s procurement of at least 145 B-21 Raider stealth bombers over the next few years.

David Goldfein, then chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force in 2020, led a congressional hearing on the issue in which he said he would support the Air Force’s procurement of at least 145 B-21 Raider stealth bombers over the next few years, according to The War Zone, which will replace the fleet of only 21 B-2 Spirit aircraft and the aging B-1B bombers. David Goldfein, then chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, was the first to publicly mention in a congressional hearing that there were plans to procure 145 B-21 bombers.

And Kendall said during the Senate appointment hearings that he currently believes that 145 B-21s is a reasonable number, although requirements will change over time. The B-2 remains the USAF’s most potent bomber in terms of penetrating the enemy’s tight air defense network to launch strikes against adversaries as close in strength as China and Russia. And the B-21 will build on those capabilities, especially against China, which is actively developing a stealth strategic bomber. Kendall said he would be interested in returning to a government unit, and that fighting the Chinese Communist Party might be the reason, and his nomination, if approved, would hopefully address that issue.

B-21 Raider stealth bomber

In fact, before Goodfellow’s remarks last year, the U.S. Air Force had only publicly stated that it would procure at least 100 B-21s, and the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), which oversees the Air Force’s bomber fleet, recently said it expects the entire fleet to grow to 220 bombers, including 75 existing B-52Hs.

The USAF today has only 21 nuclear-capable B-2s and 76 B-52Hs, and expects to retain 45 B-1Bs that can only carry conventional munitions until 2036. There have been calls, including from the U.S. Congress, for the USAF to acquire more bombers.

In any case, analysis shows that it is important for the USAF to increase the total number of stealth bombers that can penetrate air defenses by nearly seven times. As for how long the U.S. Air Force will take to receive 145 B-21s, and how much money it may need to spend and manufacturing timeline and other related details, they are still classified.