PUBLISHED on August 9, 2025, 8:53 AM EDT – Key Points and Summary – While the B-21 Raider’s advanced stealth and sixth-generation technology are impressive, a senior U.S. Air Force official has revealed its most transformative advantage: numbers.
-According to Maj. Gen. Jason Armagost, the plan to procure at least 100 bombers—and potentially more—is what truly excites him.
-This larger fleet, a stark contrast to the 19 operational B-2s, will allow the Air Force to “build a campaign force” capable of holding multiple theaters at risk simultaneously and creating a diversity of attack options, ensuring a ready and resilient global strike capability for decades.
USAF Official Reveals B-21 Raider Bomber’s Hidden Advantage
The B-21 Raider’s advanced stealth, reduced maintenance demands, and advanced sixth-generation technologies have been widely discussed since the bomber’s public unveiling—and were thrust into the spotlight again in June during Operation Midnight Hammer, when its predecessor, the B-2 Spirit, led the strikes that destroyed Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility.
But according to a senior U.S. Air Force official, the most transformative and exciting aspect of the upcoming B-21 is not just the new technologies it employs, but the scale of the planned fleet.
Speaking during an August 7 discussion hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Air Force Maj. Gen. Jason Armagost said that he is “most excited” about the number of Raiders expected to enter service.
The B-21 Raider program is on track and continues flight testing at Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility on Edwards Air Force Base, California. The B-21 will have an open architecture to integrate new technologies and respond to future threats across the spectrum of operations. The B-21 Long Range Strike Family of Systems will greatly enhance mission effectiveness and Joint interoperability in advanced threat environments, strengthening U.S. deterrence and strategic advantage. (U.S. Air Force photo)
The Air Force is currently preparing to procure at least 100 aircraft, but other senior leaders are now pushing to raise that figure to 145 – a stark contrast to the 19 B-2 bombers in today’s inventory.
What Armagost Said
Armagost explained how fielding the aircraft in much larger numbers will allow the Air Force to “build a campaign force.”
Armagost also said that, before taking on his current role, he held discussions with the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, acquisitions teams, and Northrop Grumman to determine how they may best work together to “drive the concepts, drive the requirements,” and “drive the fielding and the manufacture” so that the new aircraft “can become something different when we have it in numbers.”
While acknowledging that the B-21’s sixth-generation stealth capabilities are “pretty amazing,” he said that he is “most excited” about fielding the aircraft in greater numbers.
His logic? That more Raiders in the fleet will allow the Air Force to “build diversity of munitions and options for attack” as well as a “range of capabilities that not only hold one theater at risk in conflict, but can be a ready force available if there’s [other] things that are taking place around the globe.”
Meet the B-21 Raider
The B-21 Raider is the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation stealth bomber, developed by Northrop Grumman to replace portions of the B-1B and B-2 fleets and work alongside the aging B-52 in the decades ahead.
A B-2 Spirit makes a low pass flyover as part of the Warriors over the Wasatch airshow at Hill Air Force Base June 29, 2024. The 2024 Warriors over the Wasatch airshow was centered around the “Breaking Barriers Together” theme, celebrating one community. The B-2 Spirit, the predecessor to the new B-21 Raider, has been the U.S. Air Force’s premiere stealth bomber for more than 20 years. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jack Rodgers)
Conceived under the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) program, the B-21 is designed to penetrate advanced air defenses, deliver conventional and nuclear payloads, and operate in highly contested environments.
First unveiled in December 2022, the B-21 has been touted as a cost-effective upgrade to the B-2 with fewer maintenance demands.
The bomber will also be fitted with open-systems architecture designed to make future upgrades simpler, ensuring the aircraft can remain in operational service well into the 2050s.
The Raider is also expected to be capable of uncrewed or crewed operations.
B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber At USAF Museum. Image Credit: Harry J. Kazianis/National Security Journal.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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