In today’s austere funding environment, the Air Force is trying to get savings out of a lot of corners. Air Force Materiel Command officials say the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center team at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., reclaimed in Fiscal 2004 and 2005 an estimated 42,000 aircraft parts—saving the federal government approximately $1.257 billion in the process.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.