KC-46’s Refueling Boom Damaged While Refueling F-22s

July 8, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

A U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker suffered damage to its boom while refueling F-22 Raptors off the coast of Virginia on July 8, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed, with reported radio communication from the crew indicating the boom “detached.”

The aircraft, a Boeing KC-46 Pegasus from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., declared an in-flight emergency and eventually diverted to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., a spokesperson for the 22nd Refueling Wing confirmed.

According to air traffic control audio, obtained and published by The War Zone, the crew radioed that “our boom has detached from the aircraft” and that they were running emergency checklists.

Public records and flight tracking data show that the aircraft involved in the incident is a six-year-old KC-46, serial number 17-46033, flying under the callsign FELL81.

The plane began its flight in Kansas and, after the incident, descended below 10,000 feet, and circled the airspace around Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., before flying to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., according to flight tracking data and Air Force officials.

“A KC-46A Pegasus from McConnell Air Force Base declared an in-flight emergency July 8, while operating off the coast of the eastern United States, refueling F-22s,” John Van Winkle, a spokesperson for the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, confirmed. “The crew had to make the decision to land at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and has landed safely there. The aircraft will remain there for the time being.”

Van Winkle said Air Force officials were still working to verify details surrounding the mishap and the extent of the damage to the aircraft.

“There was damage to the KC-46’s boom today,” Van Winkle added. “We’re letting the Safety Investigation work to determine the nature and causes of the in-flight emergency, and that will be a complete and methodical process looking at every conceivable aspect of the mission.”

An image provided to Air & Space Forces Magazine by a local aircraft photographer, X user enc_spotter, shows the tanker at Seymour Johnson with part of its boom missing.

The damaged KC-46 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. Image courtesy of enc_spotter.

The aircraft had flown two missions on July 7 without any reported difficulties, according to flight tracking data.

Representatives for Air Combat Command, which oversees the F-22s involved in the incident, and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, where the Raptors are based, did not immediately respond to queries as to whether any fighters had been damaged in the incident.

The KC-46, based on the commercial 767 airframe, has been plagued by issues since its introduction into the fleet, particularly with its refueling system. Boeing resumed deliveries of the aircraft in May after the Air Force halted acceptance of new planes due to cracks in the wings—an issue which Boeing and the Air Force say is now fixed.

A long-standing problem has been a so-called “stiff boom,” which prevents the aircraft from refueling the A-10 Thunderbolt II. Contractors and the Air Force are working on a redesigned actuator as a fix.

Another issue involves the aircraft’s Remote Vision System 2.0, an overhaul of the camera system boom operators use to guide the boom to receiving aircraft, which has been delayed until summer 2027. In its 2024 annual report, the Pentagon’s Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation said the “KC-46A is not meeting many of its suitability metrics.”

Air Force Budget Hints at Shift in Tanker Plans—and More KC-46s

July 8, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force appears to be leaning buying toward more KC-46 refuelers rather than developing a stealthy future tanker, based on budget documents released this week. USAF’s plans prioritize connectivity upgrades and self-protection measures for its aerial refueling fleet.

No final decisions have been announced, but the budget indicates a “Tanker Production Extension” program to follow the KC-46 once production for those aircraft concludes. That effort is the latest in a series over recent years, which have been dubbed variously KC-Y, Bridge Tanker, and KC-135 Recapitalization. One option has always been to simply buy more KC-46s, possibly with upgraded capabilities; meanwhile, airframe builders Airbus and Embraer have each pitched alternatives.

The 2026 budget outlines “plans to use the KC-46A Capability Production Document as the most affordable requirements basis for Tanker Production Extension.” Doing so would give Boeing and its KC-46 a leg up on the competition, as its offering already meets those requirements.

The Tanker Production Extension program also appears under the KC-46 budget line, rather than a separate line item as was the case for KC-Y, which was listed as Air Refueling Capability Modernization.

“Acquisition strategy approval is anticipated in FY 2025, followed by acquisition documentation development, market research, detailed acquisition planning, RFP development, future tanker development, risk and issue assessment, risk and issue mitigation, and other studies and analysis in FY 2026,” the budget documents state.

Officials are asking for $23.8 million for the Tanker Production Extension project. That’s a sizable increase over the $13.6 million they sought for the predecessor effort in fiscal 2025, but also a major shift from the $188 million the previous administration projected it would spend in 2026.

While work on a potential new tanker isn’t ramping up as much, though, the 2026 budget request doubles down on improving the KC-46—which could make it more appealing to continue production.

Specifically, the Air Force is seeking $81.1 million for capability improvements, up from $58.5 million last year, and $40.4 million for research and development, up from $35.1 million.

Among desired enhancements to the KC-46 are upgraded connectivity and communications, which the Air Force and contractor Boeing have both touted. These include:

Block 1 Pegasus Advanced Communications Suite: New Link 16 terminals, global beyond-line-of-sight comms, and jam-resistant satellite voice comms for within line-of-sight.

Block 2 upgrades to enable “compliance with information technology modernization and security requirements [and] integration of the KC-46 on-board information systems with the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) architecture.”

Mobility Air Forces Connectivity, an Air Mobility Command initiative to equip its entire fleet with line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight connectivity using a “multi-band, multi-orbit SATCOM terminal and array installation.”

In addition, upgrade funding is still needed to resolve remaining deficiencies with the existing KC-46 design. The Air Force and Boeing continue to revise the aircraft’s Remote Vision System for boom operators, but the budget documents reveal nothing new on that front; they do, however, indicate that “government testing for correction of deficiencies” is expected to continue through at least December 2025.

Work on the KC-46’s Boom Telescope Actuator Redesign is expected to last through the end of fiscal 2027, longer than previously reported. The fix is to adapt the aircraft’s “stiff” boom, which has posed difficulties with refueling the A-10 Thunderbolt II, which has difficulting maintaining sufficient thrust to hold the boom in place. Separately, the Air Force is looking to retire its remaining A-10s in 2026, but the budget documents do not suggest cutting the boom project off if that goes through.

NGAS

Beyond the Tanker Production Extension program, Air Force leaders have spoken of the need for an advanced new tanker, previously called the KC-Z and more recently referred to as the Next-Generation Aerial refueling System, or NGAS.

While the 2026 budget request includes a modest $12.96 million for NGAS, the program appears to be on a slow track, focusing on market research and modeling and simulation to “allow for concept refinement and support to requirements development.”

The idea of building NGAS with some degree of stealth so it can accompany combat aircraft into contested airspace, the new budget documents suggest a changing approach. “Alternatives for more survivable tanking capability could potentially be addressed through more resilient connectivity and on-board and off-board self-protection,” they say. “Acquisition strategies for any or all of these options would be directly related to requirements that will be refined through the FY 2026 activities.”

A Lockheed Martin Skunk Works concept of a stealthy, uncrewed future aerial tanker was shown at a Airlift/Tanker Association meeting.

Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall had warned that a stealthy tanker may not be affordable given all of the service’s other priorities, and the new emphasis on resilient connectivity dovetails with planned KC-46 enhancements.

KC-135 Drones

Buried in an infamous 2023 memo from then-AMC commander Gen. Mike Minihan warning of a potential conflict with China was his direction that “KC-135 units will coordinate to provide a conceptual means of air-delivering 100 off-the-shelf size and type UAVs from a single aircraft.”

That concept appears now to be nearing reality, with a KC-135 Drone Delivery Mechanism described as “capable of launching unmanned aerial vehicles from a KC-135 in flight to provide an on-board defensive capability” included in USAF’s fiscal 2026 budget request.

“A prototype integrating a common launch tube with a modified KC-135 aft hatch door to produce and determine the viability of this concept” is cited in the documents. Air Force officials are now “in discussions on best approach to transition the KC-135 Drone Delivery Mechanism to the appropriate [program of record] and implement the capability on the KC-135 fleet,” the document states.

The Pentagon has toyed with the idea of deploying drones from mobility aircraft before—the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency conceived a program called Gremlins to launch and recover drones from a C-130, and the Air Force has also experimented with palletized cruise missiles that could be launched out of cargo aircraft under project Rapid Dragon. Operational testing for that system is set to conclude this year.

Air Force, Space Force Kick Off Major Pacific Exercises

July 8, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force and Space Force kicked off a busy summer of major exercises across the Pacific on July 8, with thousands of Airmen and Guardians set to participate.

The Department-Level Exercise series includes:

Mobility Guardian, Air Mobility Command’s flagship exercise

Resolute Force Pacific (REFORPAC), led by Pacific Air Forces, which was introduced 17 months ago as part of a “re-optimization” plan to better prepare for potential conflict with China

Resolute Space, a parallel Space Force exercise led by Space Training and Readiness Command

Emerald Warrior, led by Air Force Special Operations Command; and

Bamboo Eagle, an Air Combat Command exercise focused on Agile Combat Employment.

This series will also feed other major exercises, such as Talisman Saber, a joint U.S-Australia-led exercise that includes about a dozen countries and tens of thousands of service members.

All told, the DLE series will test more than 12,000 Air Force and Space Force personnel, more than 350 USAF aircraft, and satellites and ground systems conducting space electromagnetic warfare, space domain awareness, orbital warfare, and navigational warfare, according to a release. All told, that’s a scale that rivals anything the Air Force has done in years.

“Exercising at this speed, scale and tempo is how we prepare for the future fight,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in a statement. “We need Airmen to move fast and think outside the box, disrupting the operational status quo. We also build trust and understanding through deliberate planning, operating and learning alongside our partners across the Pacific.”

Added Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman: “By training at this unprecedented scale, we’re sharpening warfighter instincts, strengthening combat credibility and proving our commitment to deliver peace through strength in the face of any challenge.”

Developed over the past two years, beginning shortly after 2023’s upscaled Mobility Guardian, the 2025 excercises were developed by planners meeting throughout multiple conferences, wargames, and tabletop exercises, the work was led by the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center.

U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 35th Fighter Wing install a portable air conditioning unit in a contingency dormitory for Exercise Resolute Force Pacific (REFORPAC) at Misawa Air Base, Japan, July 2, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Brittany Russell

“The scope of these combined exercises is beyond anything I’ve seen in my career,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Weems, a warfare center official at the final planning conference in May. “The concept of executing exercises at this scale, simultaneously, is a massive undertaking and you can sense the energy and excitement of the teams building through the challenges of this requirement.”

Air & Space Forces Magazine will have comprehensive coverage of the DLE series, including exclusive reporting from Mobility Guardian.

AFMC Boss Richardson Retires After 42-Year Career: ‘I Love This Stuff’

July 7, 2025 | By David Roza

Airmen basic rarely go on to become four-star generals, but one who did retired last week after a 42-year career that saw him rise from a lowly slick-sleeve to the head of one of the Air Force’s most important major commands.

Gen. Duke Z. Richardson stepped down July 3 from the helm of Air Force Materiel Command, a group of 89,000 troops and civilians charged with researching, developing, testing, and sustaining the aircraft, weapons, sensors, and other equipment that the Air Force and Space Force rely on.

“I love this stuff,” he said in an Air Force exit interview shortly before retiring. “I get out of bed every day and I get excited about coming in and working with fantastic people at AFMC. And so there’s a sense of loss, you know, just personal, selfish loss, of not being part of this team.”

Richardson started his Air Force career in 1983 as an 18-year-old avionics technician. He originally enlisted in the service as the means to “a steady paycheck and a path toward independence,” according to a press release. But Richardson’s passion for science and engineering helped turn the job into a vocation.

“The Air Force gears don’t turn without AFMC,” he said in the exit interview. “It’s no mistake that there’s a gear in our patch.”

Gen. Duke Z. Richardson commander, Air Force Materiel Command, speaks to junior force members at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Feb. 19, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Michelle Gigante)

In 1989, the maintainer commissioned as a second lieutenant after earning a degree in electrical engineering from Arizona State University. He worked a range of materiel-related assignments touching everything from space electronics to F-15 fighter software to presidential airlift to fixed wing special operations aircraft. Throughout it all, his attitude towards hard work remained the same.

“One of the most enduring values I’ve carried with me throughout my entire career—from Airman Basic to MAJCOM commander—is the value of hard work,” Richardson said. “I’m a working general. I learned early on the importance of hard work, humility, and technical excellence.”

That goes back to “integrity first,” one of the Air Force core values.

“I say that to myself all the time,” he said. “It guides my behavior. How you get there is just as important as getting there. I am not willing to achieve an objective if I do it improperly.”

In June 2022, Richardson pinned his fourth star and took command of AFMC shortly before his predecessor, Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., retired. His tenure saw the first flight of the B-21 stealth bomber, the acquisition of the first T-7A trainer jets, the selection of Boeing to build the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter, and a shift towards faster digital design and development for Air Force programs.

“This is completely transforming how we’re doing systems engineering,” Richardson said of digital design in 2022.

Air Force Materiel Command faces an uncertain future, as the Office of the Secretary of Defense has ambitious goals to reduce the military’s civilian workforce by 5 to 8 percent. Richardson estimated that 72,000 of his 89,000 employees, about 80 percent, are civilians. While the Air Force gears don’t turn without AFMC, “AFMC gears don’t turn without our civilian workforce,” he said.

Richardson’s successor has not yet been nominated. For now, AFMC deputy commander Lt. Gen. Linda S. Hurry is serving as the formation’s acting commander.

16 Retired 4-Stars Urge Congress to Fund E-7 and More F-35s

July 7, 2025 | By Tobias Naegele

Six former Air Force Chiefs of Staff and nine other retired 4-star generals joined Air & Space Forces Association leadership in calling on Congress to triple the number of F-35A fighters the Air Force buys in fiscal 2026 and to reinstate funding for the E-7 Wedgetail battle management platform that was omitted from the Pentagon’s 2026 budget request.

The wide swath of retired leaders include:

Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

Gen. Merrill A. McPeak, 14th Chief of Staff of the Air Force

Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, 15th Chief of Staff of the Air Force

Gen. Michael E. Ryan, 16th Chief of Staff of the Air Force

Gen. John P. Jumper, 17th Chief of Staff of the Air Force

Gen. T. Michael Moseley, 18th Chief of Staff of the Air Force

Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, 20th Chief of Staff of the Air Force

Gen. John M. Loh, former Vice Chief of Staff and Air Combat Command boss

Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart, the first commander of U.S. Northern Command

Gen. Lori J. Robinson, former NORTHCOM commander

Gen. John D.W. Corley, former Vice Chief of Staff and ACC commander

Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, former Vice Chief of Staff and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

Gen. Kevin Chilton, former commander of U.S. Strategic Command

Gen. Herbert J. “Hawk” Carlisle, former ACC commander

Gen. Robin Rand, former commander of Air Force Global Strike Command

Gen. Lance W. Lord, former commander of Air Force Space Command

They joined AFA Chairman retired Brig. Gen. Bernie Skoch; AFA President retired Lt. Gen. Burt Field, and retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute in a letter that challenged the administration’s plan to cancel the E-7 and to build just 24 F-35As.

“During a period of heightened tension throughout the world, we believe such reductions will severely and unnecessarily undermine our service members’ ability to deter, and if necessary, prevail in future conflicts,” they wrote to the Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, as well as the members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees and House and Senate Appropriations defense subcommittees. “As the congressional defense authorization and appropriations committees continue their important work in preparing legislation for Fiscal Year 2026, we respectfully request the Congress provide authorization and funding to procure 75 F-35As and restore E-7 funding in full.”

The House Appropriations Committee and its defense subcommittee have already taken some action toward these ends. Their version of the fiscal 2026 Defense Appropriations bill includes $4.5 billion for 42 F-35As and $500 million to continue development of the E-7.

F-35 Lightning IIs fly in a formation over rural Wisconsin June 23, 2025. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Addie Peterson

But AFA leaders and the former four-stars argue that those steps are insufficient given the ongoing requirement to field 1,763 F-35As to fully equip the Air Force to meet the National Defense Strategy.

Noting that U.S. and Israeli F-35s were “integral to the success of Operation Midnight Hammer” in taking out Iran’s nuclear sites last month and in making that mission possible by crushing Iran’s air defenses to swiftly achieve air superiority over Iran, the letter also emphasized progress made by F-35 maker Lockheed-Martin toward certifying its Tech Refresh 3 upgrade. “That means the hardware and software upgrades are now available enabling even greater improvements in the F-35,” the generals wrote.

The generals also challenged the administration’s decision to terminate the E-7 Wedgetail program and to instead acquire additional E-2 Hawkeye aircraft as a stopgap measure.

“The E-2 is unable to meet the combatant command requirements for theater-wide airborne command and control. That is not the mission for which it is designed,” the wrote. “Additionally, the E-7 can perform missions different from traditional AWACS roles that will be critical to the China contingency.”

The Air Force’s official explanation for canceling the E-7 is that future space-based solutions will eventually be available. But the generals said such systems are still not yet in hand.

“We have high confidence the U.S. Space Force will develop and deploy a space-based air battle management system,” the wrote. “However, the scientific and engineering hurdles to accomplish this goal are daunting and the timeline to success is unclear. Since having a robust tracking and battle management system is fundamental to projecting airpower and winning conflicts, prudence demands we acquire sufficient numbers of E-7s to prevail whenever the next conflict unfolds.”

They applauded “the foresight of the House Appropriations Committee and House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in their allocation of funding for the E-7 and respectfully request additional resources be committed so the aircraft can be deployed at the earliest opportunity.”

Air Force Fighters Control Semi-Autonomous Drones in ‘Crucial’ Test

July 7, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. Air Force recently took a significant step in its push to integrate crewed fighters with semi-autonomous drones, the service’s research lab says.

Pilots of an Air Force F-16C and an F-15E each controlled two XQ-58A Valkyrie drones in an “air combat training scenario,” the Air Force Research Laboratory said in a July 3 release.

The test flight was carried out at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and demonstrated USAF’s ability to achieve “real-time integration between manned and semi-autonomous systems,” the release stated.

The XQ-58A, made by defense startup Kratos, first flew in 2019 and has been used to explore the “loyal wingman” concept in which drones can be controlled by crewed aircraft.

That approach was the forerunner of the service’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The Air Force’s first CCAs—the YFQ-42A and the YFQ-44A—are currently under development. The tests with the XQ-58A are being used to develop capabilities that will be incorporated in the CCA program, the Air Force indicated.

Indeed, while the Air Force is spending $711 million on the CCA program in fiscal 2025 and planning another $789 million in fiscal 2026, the service continues to invest in supporting efforts too. Its Autonomous Collaborative Platforms program “matures technology to reduce risk through development, integration, experimentation, and test activities,” and is funded at more than $50 million in fiscal 2025.

“With this flight, we mark a crucial step in developing capabilities that harness human-machine teaming to overcome complex threats and expand our advantages,” Brig. Gen. Jason E. Bartolomei, the commander of AFRL, said in a statement. “By developing and integrating autonomous platforms with manned systems, we can quickly adapt, increase combat effectiveness, and reduce risk to our aircrews in contested environments.”

Elon Musk and others in Silicon Valley have stirred up debate by insisting that autonomous drones should supplant crewed aircraft. The Air Force, however, is promoting a more evolutionary approach in which unmanned drones fly in tandem with crewed fighters and are controlled by the fighter pilot—what the service calls “human-machine teaming.”

AFRL did not elaborate in its statement on how the XQ-58A drones were controlled by the F-16C, a single-seat aircraft, and the F-15E, which carries a pilot and a weapons system officer. Nor did AFRL offer details on what maneuvers the aircraft conducted.

An XQ-58A Valkyrie low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle launches at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Dec. 9, 2020. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua King

Representatives for AFRL did not immediately respond when asked for further details about the test. The test flights were carried out in conjunction with the Air Force Test Center, Air Combat Command, the Navy, and the Pentagon’s Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve program. The XQ-58A is also operated by the U.S. Marine Corps.

Air Combat Command boss Gen. Ken Wilsbach said the test was part of the Air Force’s approach of using “operator-driven evaluations” to enhance human-machine teaming.

“Data from the recent flight demonstration will inform future development and deployment of semi-autonomous capabilities across the Department of Defense,” AFRL said in its release.

Space Force Cancels Major Tactical SATCOM Competition

July 7, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force is canceling a competition to build new satellites for jam-resistant tactical communications, instead choosing to focus on operationalizing two prototypes it plans to launch next year as part of a new, “innovative” approach intended to accelerate getting new tech into operation as quickly as possible.

Space Systems Command announced the change, cancelling the planned $2 billion Protected Tactical SATCOM-Resilient, or PTS-R, program, which had aimed to build on the Space Force’s existing Wideband Global SATCOM constellation. In 2021, the Space Force awarded prototype contracts to Northrop Grumman and Boeing as a preliminary step to PTS-R.

Now Space Systems Command is changing again, this time to focus on “implementing faster and more robust capabilities, including bringing PTS-P prototypes into operation as quickly as possible.”

“We have initiated a new approach to bound cost and technical risk while rapidly delivering incremental capability,” said Cordell DeLaPena Jr., program executive officer for military communications and positioning, navigation, and timing, in a statement. “The benefits of this innovative approach include saving near-term costs by utilizing lower cost-risk contracts, and providing incremental capabilities faster by operationalizing current PTS-Prototype satellite capabilities after they launch next year.”

Northrop’s PTS-P payload is being integrated onto one of the company’s ESPAStar buses, while Boeing’s is being added to the forthcoming WGS-11 satellite. The planned launches for those satellites would slip from 2025 into 2026, according to DeLaPena and budget documents.

PTS-G (for Global), a new program introduced in the 2025 budget cycle, will continue as a separate line item. So will other tactical SATCOM programs, the Space Force said in a release.

In its fiscal 2025 budget request, the Space Force outlined plans to spend more than $2.1 billion in the next five years on the combined PTS-P and PTS-R effort, with the PTS-P part winding down and PTS-R ramping up. And even in the recently released fiscal 2026 budget request, the service included $273 million for PTS-R and described plans to award a contract and conduct work ahead of a planned launch in fiscal 2031.

PTS-G is also in the 2026 budget request, funded to the tune of $239 million with plans to award contracts for up to four satellites next year.

The service is still working on the ground system to accompany the new PTS systems, called the Protected Tactical Enterprise Service.

Space Force Awards $2.4B Contract for New Nuclear Command and Control Satellites

July 7, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force has tapped Boeing to build up to four new satellites for the critical nuclear command, control, and communications mission.

The contract award, announced by Space Systems Command July 3, is valued at $2.8 billion for the first two satellites, with an option for two more, as part of the Evolved Strategic SATCOM program.

“This delivery will support Initial Operational Capability and is the first step in a phased approach to rapidly proliferate a diverse satellite constellation,” SSC said in a release.

The first two satellites are expected to be delivered by 2031, Boeing said in a release. The Space Force plans to reach IOC by 2032.

ESS will take on the nuclear mission currently being performed by the Space Force’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite constellation. The AEHF spacecraft provide both tactical and strategic communications, but the service is splitting those missions as part of an effort to proliferate more satellites and increase its resilience.

The program is a key element of the Pentagon’s sweeping modernization program for its nuclear enterprise. While much of the focus for that effort has been on the Air Force’s Sentinel ICBM and B-21 bomber, officials and experts say NC3—which encompasses a multitude of different systems across the military—is essential and in dire need of upgrades.

Evolved Strategic SATCOM is the “backbone” of that, according to Pentagon budget documents. Nuclear forces across the globe will use it for secure, jam-resistant communications with the president and the combatant commands, allowing decision-makers to maintain positive control over the nuclear arsenal, the Defense Department stated.

It’s also one of the biggest pieces of the Space Force’s entire budget. In the recent 2026 request, the service asked for $1.29 billion for the program—4.9 percent of the entire base budget and 3.2 percent of the total budget once reconciliation funds are included.

In its release, Space Systems Command indicated the space segment of the program alone will wind up costing around $12 billion. The Space Force has not officially declared yet how many satellites will make up the ESS constellation, but SSC said that “additional satellites are planned to be procured through fixed price contract actions that may be awarded as sole source to support Full Operational Capability and attain global coverage, including enhanced Arctic capability.”

For this first batch of satellites, Boeing beat out Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, who both worked on the AEHF program and earned rapid prototyping contracts for ESS back in 2020.

“Today’s award culminates nearly five years of industry competition and Government partnership to show the Space Force’s readiness to spearhead the modernization of the NC3 enterprise with the development and production of the ESS weapon system,” Col A.J. Ashby, program director, said in a statement.

It’s also another big multibillion-dollar win for Boeing after it was selected to build the Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance Fighter, the F-47, earlier this year.

“The U.S. needs a strategic national security architecture that works without fail, with the highest level of protection and capability,” Kay Sears, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space, Intelligence, and Weapon Systems, said in a statement. “We designed an innovative system to provide guaranteed communication to address an evolving threat environment in space.”

B-21 Production Is Speeding Up, But How Much and For How Long Is Still Unclear

July 5, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

The $10.3 billion the Air Force and Congress want to spend on the B-21 bomber in fiscal 2026 will fund not only continuing development and fabrication, but increased production capacity, the service acknowledged. But USAF isn’t saying whether that accelerated manufacturing will buy more total B-21s than planned, buy the bombers faster … or both.

“The Air Force is committed to the successful fielding of the B-21 and is investing in the infrastructure necessary to support an increased yearly production capacity,” the service said in response to a query from Air and Space Forces Magazine.

“This proactive measure ensures the long-term health and efficiency of the production line, enabling us to deliver this critical capability to the warfighter,” the statement added. “Details regarding specific production rates remain classified.”

Previous budgets have indicated that B-21 production—based on a buy of 100 airplanes—could wrap up in the mid-to-late 2030s, suggesting a production rate of only seven or so airplanes per year. The Air Force was not immediately able to characterize by percentage how much increased capacity the 2026 budget would buy, compared with what it has today.

Northrop Grumman, which builds the B-21, telegraphed the move in April, when it took a $477 million charge on the program to cover unexpected materials costs and enable a speed-up in production, should the Air Force wish it. The company characterized the action as a “change in the manufacturing process.” Kathy Warden, Northrop CEO, called it a “process change” enabling “a higher production rate.”

The reconciliation bill language provided a total of $4.5 billion for a B-21 manufacturing capacity acceleration, and that amount is in the fiscal 2026 budget request, along with the Air Force’s ask of $3.4 billion for production and $2.3 billion in research, development, test and evaluation. The reconciliation amount was split, $2.4 billion for R&D and $2.1 billion for procurement.

The overall amount roughly matches the Pentagon’s budget overview, which says the B-21 would get $10.2 billion in fiscal ’26. Absent further spending forecasts, however, it’s not clear if the production capacity adds will be sustained.

The Air Force was not immediately able to say whether Northrop could accommodate additional B-21 production at its Plant 42 facilities in Palmdale, Calif., simply with more tooling and workers or whether a separate manufacturing site would have to be set up. Northrop referred all questions about B-21 production capacity to the Air Force.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin apparently isn’t sold on a bigger B-21 buy, though. He told the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 26 that the B-21 “is manufactured differently” than other aircraft, “and so we want to ensure that, before we accelerate, we don’t want to be overly zealous without fully understanding what it might mean to accelerate beyond a certain production rate.”

He said the Air Force is “intensely looking at” increasing the rate, “not only from an affordability point of view, but also a feasibility point of view, to ensure that we don’t go too fast.”

Allvin called the prospect of acceleration “very, very promising” and would provide “a significant capability for our Air Force.”

He reiterated the service’s line that it’s seeking a program of record of a minimum of 100 B-21s, but acknowledged that U.S. Strategic Command boss Gen. Anthony Cotton has suggested 145 might be nearer the actual requirement.

Cotton, in a March speech at the McAleese defense conference, said 100 B-21s is an “absolute minimum,” and that this benchmark, set around 2015, has probably been overtaken by events. That figure was established “when the geopolitical environment was a little bit different than what we face today,” said Cotton, who is retiring in the next few months. The figure of 145 was also the number Air Force Global Strike Command calculated it need when he headed that organization, he said.

Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, now the head of Global Strike Command, also said in June that 145 might be the right number of B-21s, and that more will be needed anyway if the planned B-52J upgrade doesn’t work out. The Air Force is replacing the B-52’s engines and radar and refurbishing other elements of the 63-year old bomber’s airframe.

“I support assessing the increase of the production from 100 to 145,” Bussiere said at the Atlantic Council.

Allvin also made the connection between more B-21s and B-52 setbacks in May, when he told the Senate Armed Services Committee more B-21s would be needed if B-52 modernization “goes worse than we hope.” The Air Force has said it may invoke a Nunn-McCurdy breach on the radar modernization program, which signifies a 15 percent or more increase in cost over the program base or a significant delay in the program.

Although Allvin told the committee 100 B-21s is a number “we can stand behind,” he repeated previous comments that by the mid-2030s, the Air Force may wish to switch to something else made possible by advancing technology.

“I really want to look at the risk over time, and opportunities over time,” Allvin said.

Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, in testimony before the SASC in May 2023, said the Air Force may need to shift its investments away from short-range fighters to long-range bombers in the future, a requirement driven by the threats to island bases and tankers from very long-range adversary missiles.

At that time, Kendall testified, “if we’re ever going to significantly increase the production [of the B-21], we’d have to go re-look at how we are tooled for manufacturing.” That, he said, is “not a near-term decision.”

Allvin told the Senate Appropriations panel that in future conflicts, “having mass is … extremely important. And so, as we look at the minimum of 100, we will continue to evaluate how many [we] need at the time of production to make sure they’re meeting the need.”