The Air Force is planning to relocate 17 B-1 bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., to Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., for 10 months starting early next year, as Ellsworth gears up to host the incoming B-21 Raider.
Air Force Global Strike Command is proposing the move from February to November 2025, a spokesman said in an email statement to Air & Space Forces Magazine on Aug 19.
The final relocation decision hinges on an ongoing environmental review that is evaluating the impact of moving the aircraft and personnel to Grand Forks. If the review is favorable, Elllsworth plans to send around 800 Airmen along with the Lancers to Grand Forks to provide maintenance and support for the bomber operations.
“The B-1s will continue to fill their operational requirements to the President and the Secretary of Defense while at Grand Forks,” the spokesman noted in the statement.
The proposal hints at progress in the Air Force’s plan to start fielding the new B-21 Raider. After Ellsworth was selected as the initial operating base and training unit for the new stealthy bombers, the base began construction on a new 95,000-square-foot Low Observable Restoration Facility in 2022 to support the bomber. According to budget documents, additional facilities at the base are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Last month, Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara, deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, confirmed that B-21s are coming to Ellsworth “very soon” and that the program remains on schedule.
“The good news is the B-21 is succeeding, it’s in flight test,” Gebara said during an event with the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies on July 15. “I always caution people to say it’s early in flight test, so I will be happy when I see it flying into Ellsworth for the first time. I have these visions in my head of B-21 flying over Mount Rushmore and circling to land, and I can see it happening. It’s going to happen before we know it, very soon, but it isn’t there yet.”
In May, the Air Force and Northrop Grumman unveiled new photos of the B-21, providing the first official images of the highly secretive bomber in flight. These photos, offering some new detail about the aircraft, show the bomber at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Since its initial flight at the manufacturer’s California facility in November, the bomber has been conducting test flights from the base.
The service recently told Air and Space Forces Magazine that the new bomber aircraft will not necessarily replace the B-1 and B-2 on a one-for-one basis as new bombers become available. However, Global Strike Command has indicated it does not expect to have the resources to field four different types of bombers simultaneously. The goal is to narrow down to a fleet of only B-21s and B-52Js after the B-1s and B-2s retire.
Grand Forks has previously served as a cornerstone of U.S. bomber operations. Beginning in 1963, the base housed B-52 bombers under the 319th Bomb Wing until it transitioned to B-1 missions in 1986. It played a key role in the nation’s nuclear deterrent until 1994, when the last B-1s departed and the wing was re-designated as the 319th Reconnaissance Wing. The base today focuses on ISR missions with unmanned aerial vehicle operations including the RQ-4 Global Hawk.