News

Air Force’s F-47 Program Roars Into Test Aircraft Production on Schedule for 2028 Flight
News

Air Force’s F-47 Program Roars Into Test Aircraft Production on Schedule for 2028 Flight

/

The U.S. Air Force’s next leap in air dominance is moving from briefing slides into metal, software and test aircraft, with the F 47 program now inside its engineering and manufacturing development phase and still tracking toward a 2028 first flight.

Gen. Dale White, director of Critical Major Weapon Systems, said Wednesday that the program entered the new phase with “unprecedented maturity,” a notable statement in a Pentagon culture where big programs often arrive with more promises than proof.

White made the remarks during a keynote address at Life Cycle Industry Days in Dayton, Ohio, an event hosted by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.

His message was straightforward: the F-47 is not drifting, slipping or waiting for another blue ribbon review.

The engineering and manufacturing development phase is where the Air Force matures, integrates and tests the aircraft’s core systems.

It also produces a limited number of test aircraft for evaluation and includes priced options for low rate initial production.

White did not say how many test aircraft are being built, but the phase marks a major step for the Boeing program. For a sixth generation fighter meant to replace the F-22 Raptor, that is not a minor milestone.

The first Boeing F-47 is currently on pace to fly in 2028. The Air Force plans to buy at least 185 of the aircraft, matching the size of the F-22 fleet it is intended to replace.

“The F-47 will fly in this administration,” White said, giving President Donald Trump’s White House a clear marker on one of the most important combat aviation programs in the world.

Boeing Wins NGAD Contract to Build Air Force’s Next-Generation Fighter Jet, the F-47

That matters because the F-47 is not just another shiny aircraft for procurement charts.

It is the manned centerpiece of the Next Generation Air Dominance effort, a family of systems built to keep American pilots ahead of China, Russia and any other regime that thinks air superiority is up for grabs.

Trump announced in March 2025 that the Air Force would proceed with development of the sixth generation Boeing F-47 under the NGAD program. As usual, the president did not bury the lead in Beltway jargon.

“In terms of all of the attributes of a fighter jet, there’s never been anything even close to it, from speed to maneuverability, to what it can have, to payload,” Trump said at the time, insisting that the aircraft would be built and flying during his administration.

“And this has been in the works for a long period of time,” he continued. “America’s enemies will never see it coming.”

That last line is exactly the point. The F-47 is designed for a battlefield where stealth, range, sensors, electronic warfare and rapid adaptation will decide who survives and who becomes debris.

NGAD is described as a family of systems, pairing the F-47 with Collaborative Combat Aircraft that can expand reach, complicate enemy targeting and help overwhelm hostile air defenses.

In plain English, it is about making sure America’s pilots are not sent into tomorrow’s fights with yesterday’s tools.

The F-47’s modular design is meant to absorb emerging technology without forcing the Air Force into a slow, expensive rebuild every time the threat changes.

It is also expected to integrate long range strike capabilities for contested environments where enemies have invested heavily in missiles, sensors and layered defenses.

Air Force’s F-47 Fighter Program Avoids F-35 Pitfalls by Embracing Tech Ownership and Flexibility

That is the kind of modernization Washington talks about endlessly but too often manages to smother in process.

Here, at least, the Air Force is signaling that industry partners and government program leaders are moving with unusual alignment, what White described as “extreme teaming.”

The money is already following the mission. The F-47 program received $3.45 billion in fiscal year 2026 funding, with more than $5 billion included in the fiscal 2027 budget request.

For the War Department, the stakes are obvious. If the United States wants to deter war, it must field weapons that convince adversaries they cannot win one, and the F-47 is being built for exactly that message.

The 2028 flight target gives the program a public clock, and White’s comments make clear the Air Force believes it can meet it.

After years of talk about next generation airpower, the F-47 is now producing test aircraft and moving toward the runway.

America’s enemies may not like the sound of that. Too bad for them.

Navy Unleashes .6 Billion Submarine Push for Columbia and Virginia Class Boats
News

Navy Unleashes $76.6 Billion Submarine Push for Columbia and Virginia Class Boats

/

The Navy is moving another massive piece onto the national security chessboard, announcing $76.6 billion in contracts for the next wave of Columbia class ballistic missile submarines and Virginia class attack submarines.

For once, Washington is putting serious money behind something that actually matters: American deterrence, undersea dominance, and the nuclear triad that keeps hostile regimes from getting too adventurous.

The War Department is awarding $29.5 billion to General Dynamics Electric Boat for five Columbia class submarines.

Another $42.1 billion will go toward nine Virginia class submarines built by General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding.

An additional $5 billion is being set aside for nuclear shipbuilding programs and shipyard infrastructure at both builders. That part matters because even the most advanced submarine designs do not mean much if the industrial base cannot build them on time.

“This historic investment underscores the department’s continued commitment to undersea superiority and the recapitalization of our nuclear triad,” said Vice Adm. Robert Gaucher, director of submarine programs.

Guam at a Crossroads as War Strategy Shifts to Hardened Defenses
SANTA RITA, Guam (Dec. 20, 2020) The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Key West (SSN 722) moors to the pier at Naval Base Guam. Key West returned to its homeport after completing a regularly scheduled maintenance period. Key West is one of multiple submarines forward-deployed to Commander, Submarine Squadron 15 out of Polaris Point, Naval Base Guam. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kelsey J. Hockenberger)

“By securing the continuous production of both the Columbia and Virginia classes, we ensure we will continue to deliver the world’s most lethal, survivable and resilient combat platform.”

That is not Pentagon poetry. That is the basic reality of great power competition, where China is building ships at a staggering pace, Russia is still leaning on nuclear intimidation, and America cannot afford to let its submarine fleet age into irrelevance.

The Navy says it currently has seven Columbia class submarines under contract. It also has 26 active Virginia class submarines, with 23 more already lined up for future construction.

The Columbia class has become one of the Navy’s top priorities over the past several years because it is intended to replace the aging Ohio class ballistic missile submarines.

Diesel Fumes Hospitalize 64 Sailors Aboard Nuclear Submarine in Washington
The ballistic-missile submarine USS Nebraska passes by Seattle during sea trials after completing an extended major maintenance period, to include an engineered refueling overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. Navy photo by Seaman Joseph W. Weiser

Those Ohio boats have carried a huge share of America’s strategic deterrent mission for decades, quietly lurking beneath the waves with enough firepower to make any enemy think twice.

The Ohio class is not exactly going gently into retirement. One Ohio class submarine participated in military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities during Operation Midnight Hammer on June 22, 2025, a reminder that undersea power is not some museum piece from the Cold War.

The Columbia class is expected to bring greater stealth, survivability, and missile capability than the boats it replaces.

It is also expected to carry the Trident II D5 Strategic Weapons System and eventually support hypersonic missiles, giving America a sharper edge in the places where deterrence is measured in seconds.

Pentagon to Review AUKUS Submarine Deal, Prompting Concerns Among Allies and Lawmakers

Construction on the Columbia class began in 2020, but the program has not been free of headaches. The lead submarine was originally expected in 2027, but delivery has moved to 2028 after problems tied to steam turbines and the vessel’s bow and stern, according to USNI News.

That delay is exactly why long term production contracts and industrial base investment matter.

The country cannot snap its fingers and produce nuclear submarines, despite what some committee room dreamers in Washington might assume between cable news hits.

Government watchdogs warned early that the program could face schedule trouble.

A January 2023 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office raised concerns because General Dynamics Electric Boat had not conducted a “schedule risk analysis.”

The Virginia class, meanwhile, is already a proven workhorse. Its lead ship launched in 2003, and the class was designed to replace the Los Angeles class submarines that helped define American undersea operations for a generation.

Silent Strike from the Deep: The Secret Weapon That Crippled Iran’s Nuclear Program
The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Maine (SSBN 741) surfaces to receive a vertical replenishment (VERTREP) from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 462, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force, in the Philippine Sea, May 9, 2023. Vertical Replenishments enable naval vessels to quickly receive critical resources without disrupting maritime security operations while underway. III MEF is postured to enable naval expeditionary operations within the first island chain as part of a Stand-in-Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Emily Weiss)

Virginia class submarines are built for a wide range of missions, from intelligence collection to strike warfare to supporting special operations forces.

Their reconfigurable torpedo rooms allow commandos to operate during long deployments, which is exactly the kind of quiet flexibility America needs in contested waters.

The Navy’s fiscal 2027 budget request totals $378 billion and includes funding for one Columbia class submarine and two Virginia class submarines. That request shows the service is trying to keep both the strategic deterrent and the attack submarine force moving at the same time.

The big question now is whether the shipyards can deliver at the speed the threat environment demands. Contracts are important, but steel in the water is what counts when Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran are watching.

This investment is a serious bet on American sea power, and it comes at a time when weakness is expensive and deterrence is priceless.

If the Navy and the War Department can keep the program on track, these submarines will help ensure that America’s enemies keep looking over their shoulders beneath the surface.

U.S. Locks in .6 Billion Patriot Missile Push as Stockpile Alarms Grow
News

U.S. Locks in $58.6 Billion Patriot Missile Push as Stockpile Alarms Grow

/

The U.S. Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $58.6 billion to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, a major procurement move that comes as America faces growing pressure on its missile stockpiles from Ukraine, the Middle East, and recent U.S. operations involving Iran.

The War Department announced the award Wednesday, and the timing is not subtle.

After years of sending weapons abroad while also burning through munitions in active operations, Washington is now confronting the very predictable reality that arsenals do not refill themselves.

The new Lockheed deal converts a one year $4.7 billion award issued in April into a seven year draft agreement.

The Army said the arrangement creates a multi year procurement plan for Patriot interceptors from fiscal 2026 through 2032.

That longer runway matters because missile production is not like ordering office furniture, no matter how many bureaucrats in Washington seem to treat it that way.

Supply chains, rocket motors, guidance systems, skilled labor, and testing capacity all take time, money, and seriousness.

The Patriot system has become one of the most important air defense assets in the American arsenal and among U.S. allies.

Its interceptors are designed to counter ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and aircraft, making them central to modern air defense in a world that keeps getting more dangerous.

Ukraine Cleared To Build Patriots Under Trump Deal, But Production Could Take Years
A PAC-3 interceptor fires from Medium Extended Air Defense system launcher during a test. (John Hamilton/U.S. Army)

The United States has supplied large quantities of weapons to allies, especially as the war in Ukraine has dragged on. At the same time, U.S. forces have used munitions in their own operations in the Middle East, including in connection with Iran related threats.

Those demands have sharpened concerns about inventories of critical air defense and precision guided weapons. For a superpower, running short on the missiles needed to protect troops, bases, ships, and allies is not a minor accounting problem.

War Department negotiators have been pressing contractors to move much faster.

Tentative production agreements reached earlier this year are now central to the broader effort to increase missile output before another crisis exposes empty shelves.

President Donald Trump’s administration has also increased pressure on contractors to put production ahead of shareholder payouts.

Trump signed an executive order in January aimed at identifying contractors considered to be underperforming on government contracts while still distributing profits to shareholders.

That is the kind of message the defense industry needed to hear, because patriotic press releases do not intercept incoming missiles. If companies want taxpayer dollars, they should be able to deliver weapons at the speed and scale the country requires.

Industry executives have welcomed the production agreements, but they have also argued that Congress must appropriate the money before companies can make major investments in parts, facilities, and expanded capacity. That means Capitol Hill still has to do something useful, which is always the tricky part.

Exact terms and delivery dates for many War Department munitions agreements remain under negotiation. That uncertainty matters because the operational need is not theoretical, and the enemy gets a vote while Washington debates paperwork.

A similar framework agreement has also been struck with RTX, the parent company of Raytheon, to increase production of Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Navy to Arm Aegis With PAC-3 MSE Interceptor, Strengthening Sea Defense

The goal is to move from the current U.S. production rate of about 60 Tomahawks per year to eventually 1,000 units annually.

Lockheed Martin, based in Bethesda, Maryland, said the new funding would help it follow through on a pledge to triple production capacity for the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 Missile Segment Enhancement by the end of 2030. The company also said it expects to grow jobs at its Camden, Arkansas, plant by 50 percent, from about 1,200 workers to roughly 1,850.

Lockheed has previously said Patriot interceptor production would rise to 2,000 units annually. The company also said it is investing $8 billion to $9 billion through 2030 to modernize more than 20 U.S. facilities, including new munitions centers in Alabama and Arkansas.

The Patriot Advanced Capability 3 Missile Segment Enhancement is a hit to kill interceptor, meaning it destroys threats through direct impact rather than relying on a traditional explosive blast pattern. That capability has made it especially valuable against ballistic missiles and other high speed threats.

The urgency behind the production push is reinforced by outside estimates.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington based think tank, estimated this week that the U.S. military has fewer than 1,000 Patriot interceptors on hand and fewer than 250 THAAD interceptors.

Those two air defense systems have both seen heavy recent use in the Middle East. That is a flashing warning light for anyone paying attention, because American forces cannot deter adversaries with talking points and good intentions.

The $58.6 billion Lockheed agreement is therefore not just another defense contract.

It is a recognition that the United States needs a deeper, faster, and more reliable industrial base if it intends to protect its troops, support allies, and keep hostile regimes from testing American weakness.

Race for Cheaper Anti Ballistic Weapons Kicks Into Overdrive
News

Race for Cheaper Anti Ballistic Weapons Kicks Into Overdrive

/

The global race to build cheaper anti ballistic weapons is no longer a future procurement debate.

It is happening now, driven by depleted stockpiles, brutal missile barrages, and the plain fact that million dollar interceptors cannot be treated like unlimited inventory.

For decades, the U.S. made Patriot system and its PAC 3 interceptor have been the gold standard for stopping ballistic missiles.

That reputation was earned the hard way, because shooting down a ballistic missile is often described as hitting one bullet with another bullet, except the other side keeps firing more bullets.

The urgency accelerated after President Donald Trump made a blunt pledge during the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this month.

“We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool. This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving ‘em enough,” Trump said.

That comment, delivered in classic Trump fashion, helped kick open a door that the bureaucracy had kept locked for years.

Five days later, Ukraine and nine European nations launched a coalition in Paris to develop Freyja, a new Patriot style anti ballistic system built around a Ukrainian interceptor that could cost roughly one fifth of a Patriot round.

Then Lockheed Martin rolled out its own lower cost Patriot option, the PAC 3 Adapted Capability Effector, known as ACE.

On Wednesday, the War Department awarded Lockheed another $53.86 billion for PAC 3 production, lifting the multiyear deal to as much as $58.62 billion and aiming to triple production capacity by the end of 2030.

The reason for the scramble is not complicated.

A new analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates American forces fired at least 1,060 to 1,430 Patriots during the U.S. Israeli war with Iran, at roughly $3.9 million each, draining an estimated two thirds of America’s prewar Patriot inventory.

Patriot Intercept Costs Redefine U.S. Air Defense Strategy
U.S. soldiers conduct a Patriot missile live-fire exercise at MacGregor Range near Fort Bliss, Texas, Aug. 23, 2025. (Sgt. JaDarius Duncan/U.S. Army)

Ukraine’s war has added another brutal lesson. Kyiv can still counter many Russian threats, but ballistic missiles remain the hardest problem, and Patriot interceptors remain the scarce munition everyone wants until the bill arrives.

The current Patriot system pairs radar, command posts, and launchers with multiple interceptor families. Lockheed builds the PAC 3 MSE, the hit-to-kill round used against ballistic missiles, while Raytheon builds the older PAC 2 GEM T, which is better suited for aircraft and cruise missiles.

The PAC 3 MSE has proven itself in Ukrainian hands against Russian Iskanders, modified S 300s, and even the air launched Kinzhal, which flies at hypersonic speeds.

Army Builds New Missile Defense MOS to Merge Patriot and THAAD Expertise
A soldier conducts maintenance on an MIM-104 Patriot missile system in the Middle East. (U.S. Army)

“This is a once-in-a-generation moment, and we are moving with wartime urgency to deliver the Arsenal of Freedom,” Lockheed chairman and CEO Jim Taiclet said in a statement.

Trump’s licensing pledge could make Ukraine only the second country outside the United States allowed to build Patriot missiles, after Japan.

Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain are working on joint production, while Berlin is pursuing its own license arrangements.

For Ukraine, the license would likely apply to missiles rather than full Patriot batteries, and may begin with final assembly from imported component kits.

Poland has offered to host production for obvious security reasons, because putting a fresh missile line inside easy Russian striking distance would be the kind of planning only a committee could love.

“It is about securing this production, so that this production takes place in a safe location,” Polish Deputy Defense Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak Czarnecka said in Washington on July 23.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting Lockheed representatives that “Our teams are already working on specific solutions to move to joint production as soon as possible.”

Lockheed Martin Rolls Out Budget Patriot Interceptor to Battle Cheap Drone Swarms
Defense companies are exploring cheaper alternatives to the Patriot system. (Anthony Sweeney/U.S. Army)

Still, licensed Patriot production will not be cheap. The PAC 3 would remain close to $4 million per shot, and Ukrainian officials estimate a pilot line may take 18 to 24 months before weapons start coming off it.

Zelenskyy wants the schedule tightened. “We expect that by the end of 2026, our Ukrainian team will have the technical capability to produce U.S. missiles,” he said on July 15.

Freyja is the more ambitious alternative, a complete anti ballistic system with interceptor, launcher, radar, and command network. Zelenskyy called it “an analogue of Patriot, but a system for more mass production and a cheaper system.”

The Fire Point designed FP 7.X interceptor flew for the first time in early June and is meant to destroy ballistic targets around 15 miles up with a high explosive fragmentation warhead.

Its projected cost is about $700,000 per interceptor, which is why Europe suddenly looks very interested.

Trump Strikes Back: Reclaims Historic Army Base Names with Bold Patriotic Move

“We have an ambitious goal: to have an MVP ready by the first half of next year,” Davyd Aloian, deputy secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told Reuters. “That is a prototype that can already demonstrate its first practical results.”

Lockheed’s ACE is another path, aimed at air breathing threats, cruise missiles, and close and short range ballistic missiles.

“American and allied warfighters need a solution that is battle-tested and budget-smart, and PAC-3 ACE delivers exactly that by building on the unrivaled performance of the PAC-3 MSE,” said Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

The first ACE flight is expected in early 2028, with international production under consideration and a price advertised at less than half of an MSE.

The strategic takeaway is simple enough: the West needs more interceptors, cheaper interceptors, and faster production, because hostile regimes do not pause their missile programs while Washington enjoys another procurement seminar.

Chinese Military Researchers Exploit U.S. AI Models to Sharpen Beijing’s War Machine
News

Chinese Military Researchers Exploit U.S. AI Models to Sharpen Beijing’s War Machine

/

Chinese military researchers have been using outputs from leading American artificial intelligence models to train homegrown systems aimed at strengthening Beijing’s military capabilities, according to a Reuters review of more than 80 Chinese academic papers and patents.

The findings offer a blunt look at how China’s military and security establishment is trying to squeeze value out of U.S. innovation while Washington works to limit Beijing’s access to advanced chips and strategic technology.

At the center of the issue is “model distillation,” a technique in which the outputs of a powerful AI model are used to train smaller, specialized systems.

In plain English, China appears to be taking lessons from the best American systems and using them to build cheaper tools it can run on its own networks.

Reuters said its review included research compiled by the Washington based Jamestown Foundation and shared exclusively with the news agency.

The material showed the technique is being used widely by researchers tied to the People’s Liberation Army and other military institutions.

The papers suggest Chinese defense institutions view U.S. AI models as both a technical shortcut and a way to narrow the gap with American rivals.

That is not exactly shocking to anyone who has watched Beijing treat Western innovation like an all you can copy buffet.

The dispute is not over distillation itself, which is a common practice in the tech industry.

The sharper concern is unauthorized extraction from U.S. models, especially when the resulting capabilities could support surveillance, cyber warfare, targeting, or battlefield decision making.

Russia Shares Intelligence with Iran That Could Enable Tehran to Hit U.S. Forces, Officials Say
Navy Seaman Landon Blackwell monitors surface contacts from the combat information center aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain in the East China Sea, July 15, 2021.

The issue is now a major flashpoint ahead of U.S. and China talks on AI governance and safety. U.S. officials have accused some Chinese entities of using distillation to pull capabilities from American AI models, potentially undermining export controls and violating intellectual property rights.

China has rejected the accusations and accused Washington of AI “hegemonism,” because apparently Beijing believes the real problem is America noticing the pattern. Chinese developers have also pushed back on claims that their advances depend on foreign models.

AI startup Moonshot recently denied allegations by the Trump administration that its Kimi K3 model was built using distillation. The company claimed the model was driven by proprietary innovations.

China, Iran and Russia Hold Joint Naval Drills in Mideast

Sunny Cheung, a Jamestown fellow who analyzed more than 60 of the papers, said Chinese military scientists are systematically capturing the reasoning steps of Western models. He said they are adapting those capabilities for surveillance, cyber warfare, and tactical decision making.

“Teaching a model the right answer is one thing but teaching it the reasoning behind the answer is much harder,” said Cheung.

“These papers show Chinese military-linked researchers are trying to transfer that expensive, proprietary reasoning from Western models into smaller systems they can control and deploy locally.”

Reuters verified the academic literature and identified about two dozen additional military linked case studies.

One paper published last year by researchers in PLA Unit 96941, a military intelligence and cyber warfare unit in Beijing, described using OpenAI’s GPT 3.5 to process sensitive military source code.

China to Develop Robot Dog Drones with Thermobaric Weapons for 'Comprehensive Destruction'

The researchers said outside models were not suitable for classified information. Their workaround was to use GPT 3.5 to summarize software code, then train a domestic model on those summaries so it could operate inside Chinese military networks.

The White House, War Department, China’s foreign ministry, the PLA, and OpenAI did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The review found Chinese researchers using distillation for everything from content monitoring to military deployment.

At the North University of China, which has close ties to the weapons industry, researchers used Anthropic’s Claude 3 Haiku to generate synthetic training data for a text classification model focused on social media monitoring and content moderation.

Anthropic said it does not provide commercial access to Claude in China or to Beijing controlled firms. The company said it uses monitoring systems to detect policy violations and warned that distilled models may lose the original safety safeguards.

A 2024 paper from the PLA’s National University of Defense Technology described using distillation to shrink an image processing model for use on unmanned aerial vehicles.

That would allow drones to analyze live video and support navigation and targeting decisions even when communications are cut.

China's Shipbuilding Dominance a National Security Risk for US: Report

Researchers at China’s Academy of Military Sciences also used distillation to run a target recognition model on tactical hardware during simulated maritime operations.

Those exercises involved drones, ships, and unmanned submarines, according to a study published earlier this year.

China has embraced distillation as it tries to compete with the United States in frontier AI while dealing with Washington’s export controls on high end chips.

Central and local governments have promoted model lightweighting and edge computing for drones, satellites, and other platforms with limited processing power.

Still, experts warn that distilled models have real limits.

Chinese military researchers are also studying distillation as a security threat, including “data-free distillation,” a method of reverse engineering model capabilities without direct access to core parameters.

Trevor Koverko, co founder of AI data company Sapien, said distilled models remain less capable than their teacher systems.

“It is best understood as transferring selected capabilities into a cheaper, locally controlled system, not achieving independence from frontier AI.”

B-21 Raiders Set to Roll onto Ellsworth Air Force Base Ramp in 2027
News

B-21 Raiders Set to Roll onto Ellsworth Air Force Base Ramp in 2027

/

The Air Force’s next generation B-21 Raider program is moving toward a major milestone, with the service expecting the first operational stealth bombers to arrive at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in 2027.

Gen. Dale White, director of Critical Major Weapon Systems, said Wednesday that the bombers are on pace to be “on the ramp” at Ellsworth next year, keeping the program aligned with the delivery timeline previously projected in February.

White made the remarks during a keynote address at Life Cycle Industry Days in Dayton, Ohio, an event hosted by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.

The update matters because the B-21 is not just another aircraft program drifting through the usual Washington swamp of delays, excuses, and contractor finger pointing.

It is intended to become the backbone of America’s long range strike force for decades.

White, who also serves as direct reporting portfolio manager to the deputy War Secretary, manages major weapons programs including the F 47 and B-21 efforts.

He described the Raider program as “the physical proof our warfighting-focused acquisition mindset can and will work,” a pointed message at a time when the country needs lethality delivered on time, not another glossy PowerPoint from the bureaucracy.

The B-21 is currently in initial production, and the program has increased production capacity by 25%.

That boost is expected to accelerate delivery of the stealth bomber to operational units and give commanders a faster path to a critical combat capability.

Northrop Grumman is building the Raider under a 2024 contract award with the Air Force. The program also received $4.5 billion in already authorized funding through a reconciliation bill signed in fiscal 2025 as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” part of the Pentagon’s fiscal 2026 war budget.

Second B-21 Raider Completes First Flight, Signaling Major Step in Air Force Modernization
A second B-21 Raider test aircraft takes off Thursday from Palmdale, California, to join the Air Force’s flight test campaign at Edwards Air Force Base. The Air Force hopes having two B-21s at Edwards will allow it to expand testing into weapons integration and critical mission systems checks. (Air Force)

For fiscal 2027, the historic $1.5 trillion budget request proposes $6.1 billion for the B-21 program. That number signals that Washington, at least on this front, understands that deterrence does not come cheap and weakness is far more expensive.

The first next generation stealth bomber began flight testing in 2023 at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

A second aircraft followed in 2025 as the Air Force moved into the complicated work of integrating weapons and mission systems into the platform.

Those steps are essential because the Raider is expected to penetrate advanced enemy air defenses and strike high value targets across vast distances. In plain English, it is being built for the kind of fights America cannot afford to lose.

B-21 Raider Completes Close-Proximity Flight with KC-135 Tanker, Air Force Confirms
A second B-21 Raider joins flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 11, 2025. (Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs)

The production plan calls for a gradual increase, eventually reaching a rate of about seven aircraft per year. The Air Force wants at least 100 B-21 bombers to replace the aging B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit fleets over the coming decades.

“This is what disciplined acquisition delivers,” White said in a February release announcing the expanded production capacity.

“This decision reflects our confidence in the program’s performance and the stability of the industrial base. By increasing production capacity now, we are responsibly accelerating delivery of a critical, combat-effective capability to the warfighter.”

That is the kind of language the American people should expect from the Department of War under leaders focused on readiness, deterrence, and victory.

Under President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, the priority is simple enough for even the Beltway class to understand: build what the warfighter needs, build it fast, and stop apologizing for American strength.

Pentagon Urged to Arm Air Force With 500 Sixth-Generation Fighters and Bombers to Counter China
The Air Force needs to buy at least 200 B-21 Raider stealth bombers, the Mitchell Institute argued in a new paper. (Kyle Brasier/U.S. Air Force)

Ellsworth is set to become the first main operating base for the Raider, putting South Dakota at the center of the future bomber force. For the airmen preparing to receive the aircraft, the 2027 arrival will mark the beginning of a new chapter in strategic aviation.

The B-21’s arrival will also send a message well beyond the ramp at Ellsworth. America is preparing for a dangerous world with serious weapons, serious funding, and a renewed focus on combat power.

There will always be critics who sneer at military modernization while adversaries race to build missiles, ships, drones, and nuclear forces.

Fortunately, the Raider program appears to be doing what too many government programs fail to do: move forward, increase capacity, and put capability into the hands of the warfighter.

If the current timeline holds, the sight of B-21 Raiders at Ellsworth in 2027 will be more than a procurement milestone.

It will be a reminder that peace through strength still requires strength, and America’s bomber force is getting ready for the next era.

Average VA Disability Payments Surged Nearly 40% Over 14 Years, Study Finds
News

Average VA Disability Payments Surged Nearly 40% Over 14 Years, Study Finds

/

Average annual disability compensation paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs has climbed sharply since 2010, even as the overall number of living American veterans has fallen, according to a new study that puts hard numbers behind a major shift in federal veterans benefits.

The analysis found that average yearly VA disability payments rose nearly 40% over 14 years, increasing from $17,286 in 2010 to $24,057 in 2024.

Researchers at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University School of Medicine reviewed VA disability compensation and Social Security Disability Insurance payments to veterans across that period.

They also found that the share of U.S. veterans receiving VA disability compensation more than doubled, rising from 9% in 2010 to 22% in 2024.

That is a major change in the veterans benefits landscape, especially at a time when Washington loves to pretend money moves by magic until taxpayers ask for receipts.

The study points to several likely reasons for the increase, including the heavy deployment tempo faced by post 9/11 veterans and the higher chance of serious service connected illnesses and injuries tied to those wars.

Researchers also noted that improved battlefield medicine and trauma care helped more troops survive severe combat wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At the same time, VA policy changes expanded eligibility and made it easier for more veterans to receive benefits, a reality that has reshaped the system in both cost and reach.

Lawmakers to Unveil FY2026 Budget for Veterans Affairs, Military Construction

While VA disability payments moved upward, Social Security Disability Insurance payments to veterans remained comparatively steady over the same span.

The study found that annual SSDI payments averaged around $19,550, and veterans can qualify for those payments when a medical condition limits their ability to work.

The findings were published Thursday in JAMA Network Open and also highlighted differences in which veterans were more likely to receive each type of disability support.

College educated, married, and younger veterans were more likely to receive VA compensation, while older veterans with disabilities not tied to military service were more likely to receive SSDI.

The authors suggested that the VA claims process itself may influence who gets benefits and who does not.

They described the process as involving “administrative hurdles,” and said those challenges, combined with the pull of VA education benefits, may favor veterans who are better equipped to navigate the bureaucracy.

That is not exactly a shock to anyone who has ever dealt with federal paperwork, where patience, persistence, and a tolerance for alphabet soup can matter almost as much as the underlying claim.

Still, the numbers raise important questions for policymakers, veterans advocates, and officials responsible for keeping the system both fair and sustainable.

The growth in VA disability payments comes as the total U.S. veteran population has dropped substantially.

In 2010, the United States had about 22 million veterans, but by 2024 that figure had fallen to 15.8 million.

Veterans Win as VA Pulls Back on Debated Disability Rating Rule Amid Backlash
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins speaks with VA Central Iowa Health Care System Director Lisa Curnes at the Des Moines VA Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 8, 2025. Collins visited the Vet Center and Des Moines VA Medical Center to meet with staff, engage with Veterans, and toured the facility as part of his commitment to improving Veteran healthcare and benefits across the country. He also recognized staff for their dedication and service. (Veterans Affairs photo by Sam Hircock)

So the country has fewer veterans overall, but a much larger share of them are receiving VA disability compensation, and the average payment has increased significantly.

That combination is certain to fuel future debates over program structure, eligibility, claims processing, and the long term cost of caring for men and women who served.

The researchers described their work as “descriptive” and stopped short of drawing sweeping conclusions.

“These findings can inform policy discussions about optimal fiscal payments and program structures needed to achieve and streamline federal programmatic goals, while underscoring the need to reduce growing disability burden among veterans and to ensure ease of benefits navigation,” they wrote.

The authors did not respond to a request for an interview before publication, according to the report.

Their silence leaves the data to speak for itself, and the data shows a benefits system that has grown more expensive, more widely used, and more central to the lives of American veterans.

For a nation that sent troops into two long wars after 9/11, the rising disability burden is not some abstract budget line.

It is part of the bill that comes due after years of combat deployments, traumatic injuries, toxic exposures, and a federal system that often manages to be both essential and maddening at the same time.

The policy challenge now is straightforward, even if Washington will no doubt find a way to make it complicated.

Veterans with legitimate service connected conditions should get the support they earned, while the system must be simple enough to navigate and disciplined enough to protect public trust.

Body Language Expert: Fauci Looked Terrified, Fake, and Completely Busted Under Oath [WATCH]
News

Body Language Expert: Fauci Looked Terrified, Fake, and Completely Busted Under Oath [WATCH]

/

Newsmax host Greg Kelly and body language expert Lena Sisco analyzed Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Senate testimony, arguing that his posture, facial expressions, and physical movements revealed fear, stress, and what Sisco described as a lack of respect for those questioning him.

Kelly opened the discussion by reflecting on Fauci’s appearance before senators.

“Man, what a difference the truth makes!” Kelly said. “He was at times petrified, at times contemptuous, at times well.”

Introducing Sisco, Kelly asked for her overall assessment.

“Welcome back, Lena. I want to show you some specific clips, but do me a favor. Overall, just give us a quick snapshot. What kind of man did you see today testifying?”

Sisco did not hesitate.

“A liar.”

She referenced comments made during the hearing by Sen. Josh Hawley.

“I think Senator Awley. I hope I’m pronouncing his name right. He couldn’t have said it better. He said nothing says honesty more than taking the fifth.”

According to Sisco, refusing to answer questions can reflect concern about revealing deception.

“Listen, liars don’t want to talk because they’re so afraid that they’re going to give away the truth in their body language or words, so they say nothing.”

She added, “And that was the big elephant in the room today.”

Kelly then played footage showing Fauci repeatedly placing his fingertips together during the hearing.

“I found this to be I don’t know, I don’t know what the hell. What do you make of that? It says something.”

Sisco identified the gesture as a “steeple.”

“It does, and you’re right. So it’s a steeple, and it’s a power pose.”

She said the gesture often followed visible nervous behavior.

“But the funny thing is, is that he did it after he was fidgeting?”

According to Sisco, Fauci alternated between playing with his pen out of boredom and nervousness.

“So if you watched him play with his pen often, there were some times he played with it out of complete boredom, as though he wanted to leave, and other times out of nervous energy.”

She concluded that the hand gesture appeared calculated.

“Whenever he didn’t know what to do with his hands, he would go right to here to say, ‘Nope, I have to regain power and authority.’ But it was all contrived.”

Kelly also pointed to Fauci’s posture throughout the hearing.

“I found him. He was slouching a little bit.”

He added, “You know, if you were a nine-year-old kid at dinner, your mom would tell you to sit up a little bit.”

Sisco interpreted the body position as a subconscious response to fear.

“When the body curls up like balls in, his chin would tuck. He’d look down. He’d close his shoulders in. That is a subconscious reaction to fear.”

She explained that people instinctively protect vulnerable areas of the body when experiencing fear.

“So when we have fear, we will tend to protect our body. This is the most vulnerable spot of the body, the neck.”

Rather than touching his neck directly, Sisco said Fauci protected it by changing his posture.

“And you can see him by covering it up this way. And some people may touch their neck, but he doesn’t. He just tips and kind of curls over and avoids eye contact.”

Kelly next played video from Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who challenged Fauci during the hearing.

Moreno urged Fauci to acknowledge people who he said had been criticized for expressing views that later proved accurate.

“If you thought closing schools was catastrophically stupid, and that you thought that during these times saying these things made you somehow a lesser human being, Dr. Fauci, you just turn around and look at the people Behind you,” Moreno said.

“You’re not willing to do that. That’s not a question. It’s not a question to your lawyers. Not a question. It’s a request.”

Moreno continued, “All you have to do is look up from your lawyers and look at the people who were absolutely shamed for saying what we know now to be the truth. You can’t even look at him.”

After the clip, Kelly asked Sisco for her reaction.

“Wow! Did he want to? He looked a little scared there.”

Sisco said she noticed something different.

“He, but he also had a little smile on his face.”

She said Fauci displayed similar expressions several times during the hearing.

“And a couple times after he would be asked a question and gave us his canned response. He would smile.”

According to Sisco, that expression communicated confidence rather than concern.

“And that smile is, ‘I’m getting one over on you. I won this.'”

She concluded that Fauci showed little respect toward those addressing him.

“So for me, I really don’t think he cares at all.”

She added, “If he did, he would have turned around and looked at them out of respect. He has no respect.”

Kelly then turned to questioning by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who discussed scientific debate over natural immunity.

“My favorite quote from that is from Martin Koldor from from Harvard,” Paul said. “You called him one of the people that you had to take down, the fringe epidemiologist.”

Paul continued, “He jokingly said on Twitter, he said, ‘Yeah, we knew about natural immunity from 486 BC, from the time of the Athenian plague, we lost all knowledge of it in 2020. The good news is it’s slowly coming back, 24 to 2025. We’re beginning to understand what natural immunity is again-not something perfect, but a useful tool that could have been used, but also something that could have helped people.'”

Kelly then asked Sisco what she observed.

“What’s going on?”

Sisco said Fauci appeared significantly more stressed during Paul’s questioning.

“This topic stressed him out.”

She explained that several physical reactions suggested elevated stress.

“So I can tell that cortisol spiked in his system for two reasons.”

“Number one, he did this eye blink flutter, and when cortisol releases in the body, and it’s our stress hormone, it dries us out in our mouth and in our eyes.”

She also pointed to repeated face touching.

“And the next thing he started doing was touching his face a lot.”

Sisco concluded that the movements were consistent with someone experiencing heightened stress.

“Right, he’s scratching and touching. When cortisol releases in the body, we go into fight or flight. The blood goes to our head; it makes the surface of our skin itchy.”

She added, “So he’s scratching intensely during this question. That tells me it is very stressful for him.”

Kelly ended the segment with a joke directed at Sisco.

“Damn! I think I’m gonna just put my hands in my pockets, if I ever see you.”

Sisco quickly replied, “No, don’t do that. That’s not good.”

WATCH:

Knife Wielding Maniac Meets Deadly Reality After Attacking LA County Deputies [WATCH]
News

Knife Wielding Maniac Meets Deadly Reality After Attacking LA County Deputies [WATCH]

/

A violent confrontation in Lancaster, California, ended exactly the way sane people would expect when a man allegedly armed with a knife attacked Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in a parking lot.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department released body camera footage Tuesday showing the June 20 incident, which began after a concerned citizen reported a man swinging knives in public. That call brought deputies to the scene, and the situation escalated fast.

According to KABC, the man was identified as Robert Castro. Surveillance footage shows three sheriff’s patrol vehicles arriving as deputies moved to confront him in the parking lot.

Castro is seen walking away at first, but that changed when the first deputy drove up.

Instead of complying or stopping, Castro turned toward the patrol vehicle and rushed in the deputy’s direction.

As the deputy exited his vehicle, Castro attacked him with a knife.

The deputy, facing a direct threat to his life, fired several rounds and Castro fell to the ground.

The Sheriff’s Department described the encounter plainly, without the usual activist fog machine that so often appears whenever officers are forced to make split-second decisions.

“Before Deputy #1’s patrol vehicle came to a stop, Castro turned and rapidly walked in the deputy’s direction.

Castro then ran at Deputy #1, drew a knife, stabbed the deputy, and Deputy #1 discharged his service weapon.”

A second deputy arrived moments later to assist his wounded partner.

When Castro moved toward the knife on the ground, that deputy ordered him not to reach for it and then opened fire when the danger continued.

“Don’t move, don’t move!” Stop reaching!” the deputy repeatedly yelled during the encounter.

Castro eventually stopped moving.

WATCH:

He was later transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to KABC.

The wounded deputy was also taken to a hospital for treatment.

Physicians treated him for a stab wound, a detail that should matter to anyone still pretending these calls are harmless misunderstandings.

The Sheriff’s Department also released another portion of its account explaining the second deputy’s response.

It stated, “When Castro moves his hand, Deputy #2 commands him to ‘Stop reaching.’ The second deputy then opens fire.”

This is the kind of footage that cuts through the usual noise.

A citizen saw a man swinging knives, deputies responded, and one of those deputies was stabbed before deadly force was used.

In a healthier country, the lesson would be simple.

Do not charge police officers with a knife, do not stab them, and do not reach again once you are on the ground beside the weapon.

But in today’s political climate, especially in places dominated by soft on crime talking points, even obvious cases can get dragged into the familiar circus.

The public gets lectures from people who were nowhere near the scene, while deputies are expected to absorb chaos and somehow make everyone happy.

Body camera footage matters because it lets the public see what officers actually faced.

In this case, deputies were not dealing with a paperwork dispute or a peaceful passerby, but an armed man who reportedly turned a public parking lot into a danger zone.

The incident is another reminder that law enforcement officers are asked to walk straight into situations most critics would flee from in a heartbeat.

When they survive those encounters, the same armchair experts often show up to second guess every second.

Castro made a deadly choice, and the deputies responded to a deadly threat.

That is not complicated, no matter how hard the professional excuse makers may try to make it.

CNN Analyst Says Fauci Made Legal Mess Worse with Fifth Amendment Stonewalling [WATCH]
News

CNN Analyst Says Fauci Made Legal Mess Worse with Fifth Amendment Stonewalling [WATCH]

/

Dr. Anthony Fauci walked into a Senate hearing this week facing tough questions about COVID origins, federal research funding, and pandemic accountability.

He walked out having handed Republicans a made for television moment that even a CNN legal analyst admitted may have deepened his legal trouble.

The hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee was chaired by Sen. Rand Paul, one of Fauci’s most persistent critics.

Paul and other Republicans pressed the former federal health official on National Institutes of Health funding, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and whether Americans were misled during the pandemic years.

Fauci’s response was not exactly a master class in transparency. Again and again, he invoked the Fifth Amendment rather than answer direct questions under oath.

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”

That line reportedly came more than 100 times during a hearing that lasted nearly three hours.

For a man once treated by the corporate press as the unquestionable voice of science, the optics were brutal.

Republicans did not get many answers, but they did get something politically powerful.

They got a public record of Fauci refusing to answer while sitting before a Senate panel examining one of the most consequential government failures in modern American history.

Later on CNN’s “OutFront,” host Erin Burnett asked legal analyst Ryan Goodman whether Fauci’s strategy would actually protect him or make his situation worse.

Goodman, a professor at NYU School of Law, did not exactly deliver the answer Fauci’s fan club wanted.

“I think it makes it worse,” Goodman replied.

That admission stood out because it came on CNN, not from some conservative backbench podcast or a Rand Paul press release.

When even a legal analyst on that network is saying Fauci may have stepped in it, the old media protection racket starts looking a little less sturdy.

Goodman pointed to Joe Biden’s pardon of Fauci, which covered actions before January 2025.

According to Goodman, that pardon may have removed much of Fauci’s criminal exposure for past conduct, but it also may have weakened his ability to refuse testimony.

“It’s even a curious way in which you wonder what his legal advice was, why they decided to do that, because he does not face criminal jeopardy for the pardon, in all likelihood, he’s pardoned for all actions before January 2025.”

In plain English, the very pardon meant to shield Fauci could now create a different problem.

If he cannot be prosecuted for the covered conduct, Republicans argue he has less basis to clam up when lawmakers ask what happened during the COVID era.

“But that also means that you’re forced to testify,” Goodman continued, explaining that prosecutors often rely on immunity or pardons to compel testimony.

Goodman added that Fauci could theoretically face contempt if a Justice Department decided to pursue the matter.

That is the kind of legal twist that turns a defensive maneuver into a flashing red light.

Burnett also noted that Fauci’s explanation about avoiding perjury traps may not be persuasive to ordinary Americans.

“Then, of course, again, to the layperson, it’s the saying, well, why wouldn’t you just say the truth? What would be the problem in that?” she said.

“I understand that’s a layperson thing, but it doesn’t sound good.”

No, it does not sound good.

WATCH:

Most Americans who lived through lockdowns, mandates, school closures, censorship campaigns, and endless lectures from the expert class probably have a few questions of their own.

Fauci accused Paul of trying to lure him into statements that could be used against him later.

Paul, meanwhile, has spent years challenging Fauci over federal funding connected to research in Wuhan and whether officials were honest about the possible origins of the virus.

Fauci has repeatedly denied that NIH funded research that created the virus responsible for the pandemic.

Still, the origins debate remains unresolved, with American intelligence agencies split between natural transmission and a possible lab incident.

For years, Fauci’s defenders brushed off Republican scrutiny as theater.

Yet this hearing placed his credibility back under a national spotlight, and his answer was basically the same refusal repeated until the room ran out of oxygen.

Republicans may not have gotten the testimony they wanted Wednesday.

But if Goodman is right, Fauci may have given them something else, a fresh legal argument and a very ugly public record.

The man who once told America to trust the experts now appears unwilling to answer the questions.

That is not exactly the accountability tour the public was promised.


Scroll to Top