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RDT&E Program Element · President's Budget PB2027

Long Range Strike - Bomber

PE 0604015F·U.S. Air Force·Approp. 3600 — RDT&E·BA4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes
FY2027 Request
$2.86B
⚑ Contested — House approps cuts 0.6%
HitchAI read

U.S. Air Force requests $2.86B in FY2027 — the program's peak, before stepping down 74% across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House funded it in full; the Senate funded it in full; House appropriators cut 0.6% (to $2.84B).

FY2027 Request
$2,862.7M
▲ 4.9% vs FY2026
House approps mark
$2,844.6M
▼ $18.0M vs request
FY2026 Enacted
$2,729.5M
In law

Roll-up of 2 projects. Projects are the summable leaves — the PE total is their sum, never added to it.

For fiscal year 2027, the U.S. Air Force is requesting $2.86B for Long Range Strike - Bomber under RDT&E program element 0604015F, up 4.9% over FY2026. In the FY2027 defense authorization, House approps moved to cut it to $2.84B.

Funding trajectory

Funding profile, FY2025–FY2031

Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.

7501,5002,25002,565.5FY25ACTUAL2,729.5FY26ENACTED2,862.7FY27REQUEST2,291.1FY281,677.2FY29764.9FY30735.8FY31HOUSE APPROPS
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP) House approps mark
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual2,565.5
FY2026Enacted2,729.5
FY2027Request2,862.7
FY2028Outyear2,291.1
FY2029Outyear1,677.2
FY2030Outyear764.9
FY2031Outyear735.8
Where it sits

Acquisition lifecycle

This program is funded in RDT&E Budget Activity 4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes.

Complete
Research
BA 1–2
Complete
Advanced Technology
BA 3
Current
Prototyping
BA 4
Later
Development & Fielding
BA 5–7
Inside the program element

2 projects roll up into PE 0604015F

Projects are the summable leaves — the PE total is their sum, never added to it. Program elements and projects carry the full five-year plan; activities stop at the budget year. This PE moves 5% overall, which can hide much larger swings below.

Congressional action

The request is contested

Committee marks on the FY2027 request. Adds and cuts are reconciled in conference before they become law.

RequestPresident's Budget
$2,862.7M
House NDAA (HASC)HASC
$2,862.7M full · +$0
Senate NDAA (SASC)SASC
$2,862.7M full · +$0
House Approps (HAC-D)HAC_D
$2,844.6M −$18.0M · −0.6%
▲ $18.0M chamber gap — unresolved as of 2026-07-27. These are FY2027 authorization marks (NDAA); appropriations and the conference agreement may differ.
Who's building it

Where the FY2027 request goes

Performers named in the R-3 exhibit, resolved into industry, government-lab, and unspecified shares. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.

Where FY2027 funding flowsShare$M
Other / unspecified100%2,862.7
FY2027 request100%2,862.7
Program detail

Mission & acquisition strategy

This program is reported in accordance with Title 10, United States Code, Section 119(a)(1) in the Special Access Program Annual Report to Congress. Program overview provided below. The Long Range Strike - Bomber (B-21 Raider) is crucial to the nuclear modernization plan, forming the backbone of the Nation's future bomber force, providing both conventional and nuclear capability. The B-21 platform provides range, access, and payload to go anywhere needed, with the weapons required to deter and win our nation's wars. Its open system architecture will enable rapid integration of future capabilities, keeping the platform relevant and effective as the threat environment evolves.

The B-21 philosophy to drive success has been to actively manage the program, contract and contractor; to partner with the prime and supply chain for win-win successes; and to aggressively identify and mitigate risk early. The acquisition strategy incentivizes industry partners to achieve cost, schedule and performance objectives.

Project 643308, 644044 — B-21 Development
  • Product Development
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Answers are generated from the figures on this page — the FY2027 justification exhibits and the marks tracked above — and nothing else is consulted. Confirm any figure against the cited exhibit before you use it externally.

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Questions this page can answer
How does the FY2027 request compare with FY2026, and what does the five-year plan show?What did House approps do to this request, and what is still unresolved?Which project inside PE 0604015F is growing fastest, and which is shrinking?How is the FY2027 request split between industry and government performers?
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This page carries the budget justification and the NDAA marks — nothing else. For what a contractor has actually been obligated, the ledger is at hitchintel.com/vendors; for live solicitations, hitchintel.com/opportunities. Both are member surfaces.

Provenance

Cite this page

Sources
FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification · Exhibits R-2 / R-3 · PE 0604015F (President's Budget PB2027) — and FY2027 NDAA committee marks, as tracked 2026-07-27.
Suggested citation
HitchAI, "Long Range Strike - Bomber (PE 0604015F)," federal budget intelligence, PB2027 vintage. hitchintel.com/programs/0604015F
Machine access
Markdown twin /programs/0604015F.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.com → budget_get_program_element, budget_get_cong_marks
FY2027 Request
$1,761.3M
▼ 15% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$2,083.4M
▼ 9.6% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$2,305.3M
Prior year

B-21 Development — one RDT&E project inside PE 0604015F. Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, not on a project.

Project 643308 — B-21 Development — requests $1.76B in FY2027, 62% of the $2.86B requested for program element 0604015F. Year over year it falls 15% against FY2026.

Funding trajectory

Project 643308 funding, FY2025–FY2031

Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.

7501,5002,25002,305.3FY25ACTUAL2,083.4FY26ENACTED1,761.3FY27REQUEST1,334.4FY28777.0FY2966.9FY300.2FY31
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual2,305.3
FY2026Enacted2,083.4
FY2027Request1,761.3
FY2028Outyear1,334.4
FY2029Outyear777.0
FY2030Outyear66.9
FY2031Outyear0.2
Inside the project

1 accomplishment / planned program

The R-2A exhibit. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan — and they are descriptive: coverage is partial and they do not always add back to the project, so count them, never total them. Opening lines only here — the full year-by-year narrative is on the project page.

Long Range Strike Bomber (B-21) Development▼ 15%
FY2025 actual$2,305.3M
FY2026 enacted$2,083.4M
FY2027 request$1,761.3M

Continue test aircraft build, scaling manufacturing, infrastructure and capacity across the industrial base, and execution of test and evaluation activities. This funding will keep B-21 Raider development on track in support of the program's continued transition through low-rate initial production and fielding.

Read the FY2027 plan →
Project 643308 — every activity in full →
Project detail

What project 643308 buys

This program is reported in accordance with Title 10, United States Code, Section 119(a)(1) in the Special Access Program Annual Report to Congress. Program overview provided below. The Long Range Strike - Bomber (B-21 Raider) is crucial to the nuclear modernization plan, forming the backbone of the Nation's future bomber force, providing both conventional and nuclear capability. The B-21 platform provides range, access, and payload to go anywhere needed, with the weapons required to deter and win our nation's wars. Its open system architecture will enable rapid integration of future capabilities, keeping the platform relevant and effective as the threat environment evolves. The Air Force requires a minimum of 100 B-21s as part of the long-term bomber force. The Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract was awarded in 2015, followed by a Critical Design Review (CDR) completed in 2018. Test aircraft are executing the B-21 flight test campaign and an approved Milestone C decision with all statutory and regulatory documentation was completed in 2023. This program element may include necessary civilian pay expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver weapon system capability.

R-3 lines of work
  • Product Development
FY2027 Request
$1,101.4M
▲ 70% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$646.2M
▲ 148% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$260.3M
Prior year

B-21 Modernization — one RDT&E project inside PE 0604015F. Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, not on a project.

Project 644044 — B-21 Modernization — requests $1.10B in FY2027, 38% of the $2.86B requested for program element 0604015F. Year over year it grows 70% against FY2026.

Funding trajectory

Project 644044 funding, FY2025–FY2031

Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.

2505007501,0000260.3FY25ACTUAL646.2FY26ENACTED1,101.4FY27REQUEST956.7FY28900.2FY29698.0FY30735.6FY31
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
Fiscal YearEstimate TypeAmount ($M)
FY2025Actual260.3
FY2026Enacted646.2
FY2027Request1,101.4
FY2028Outyear956.7
FY2029Outyear900.2
FY2030Outyear698.0
FY2031Outyear735.6
Inside the project

1 accomplishment / planned program

The R-2A exhibit. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan — and they are descriptive: coverage is partial and they do not always add back to the project, so count them, never total them. Opening lines only here — the full year-by-year narrative is on the project page.

Long Range Strike Bomber (B-21) Modernization▲ 70%
FY2025 actual$260.3M
FY2026 enacted$646.2M
FY2027 request$1,101.4M

FY 2027 includes funding for the continuation of modernization studies/ technical risk reduction activities. In addition, modernization activities will be supported, which includes but is not limited to, weapons integration/certification, air vehicle provisioning for future capabilities, sensors, and payloads.

Read the FY2027 plan →
Project 644044 — every activity in full →
Project detail

What project 644044 buys

This program is reported in accordance with Title 10, United States Code, Section 119(a)(1) in the Special Access Program Annual Report to Congress. Program overview provided below. The Long Range Strike - Bomber (B-21 Raider) is crucial to the nuclear modernization plan, forming the backbone of the Nation's future bomber force, providing both conventional and nuclear capability. The B-21 platform provides range, access, and payload to go anywhere needed, with the weapons required to deter and win our nation's wars. Its open system architecture will enable rapid integration of future capabilities, keeping the platform relevant and effective as the threat environment evolves. The Air Force requires a minimum of 100 B-21s as part of the long-term bomber force. The Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract was awarded in 2015, followed by a Critical Design Review (CDR) completed in 2018. Test aircraft are executing the B-21 flight test campaign and an approved Milestone C decision with all statutory and regulatory documentation was completed in 2023. Modernization BPAC for tracking separately from EMD funding line was created in 2024.

R-3 lines of work
  • Product Development