WELL, GOOD: Air Force Accelerates Sending B-21s to Ellsworth.

One of the two B-21s now in flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., will be the first Raider at Ellsworth. “The test aircraft will be going there,” Meink said during a wide-ranging interview at the Pentagon.

“We’re going to actually turn the test aircraft into operational aircraft at some point in time. They’ll be going there and starting to really do the things you need to do to prepare the base to get the long-term operational aircraft there.”

An Air Force spokesperson declined to say whether both test B-21s at Edwards will move to Ellsworth, or exactly when in 2027 the first plane will arrive. Flight testing typically continues even after planes arrive at operating bases.

When the first B-21 rolled out in December 2022, the Air Force and manufacturer Northrop Grumman touted the first plane as “production-representative,” meaning its stealth coating, mission systems, and other components were virtually identical to the final model. The Air Force decided early that the first test B-21 would be production representative, rather than an experimental aircraft. Northrop officials said in 2022 that opting for the production-representative plane was more complicated up front, but would accelerate testing.

The Raider so far is one of those rare procurement success stories. Any delays (not many) and cost overruns were due largely to COVID lockdown stupidity and Bidenflation woes that hit everything.