More B-21 aircraft could be procured if the Air Force succeeds in doubling its number of bomber squadrons over the next decade, but service officials are not yet ready to talk tails. The Air Force’s proposal to increase its squadron numbers from 312 to 386 by the 2025-2030 timeframe would include five additional bomber squadrons, the biggest percentage increase in the service’s inventory, Secretary Heather Wilson said in a Sept. 17 speech at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The service currently operates nine bomber squadrons. Gen. Timothy Ray, who recently assumed command of Air Force Global Strike Command, told reporters Sept. 18 at the conference that the breakdown of those squadrons “is not ready to be translated into tails.” The service’s squadron increase assessment was developed using models and simulations, and came in response to congressional leaders asking what capabilities would be necessary to address all of the threats laid out in the fiscal year 2018 national defense strategy by 2030, Wilson said. But the service expects to conduct five more studies that will further detail the strategy, she added.
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