Northrop Grumman anticipates securing additional contracts from the U.S. Air Force for its B-21 Raider stealth bomber initiative before this year concludes, according to statements made by CEO Kathy Warden on Tuesday.

Furthermore, Northrop is in talks with the Air Force to possibly hasten the production of the B-21, as mentioned by Warden during a conference call with investors.

The recent congressional budget reconciliation bill, passed in July, allocated $4.5 billion to accelerate the production of the B-21. Warden noted that Northrop is actively engaged in discussions with the Air Force on how to implement this, though the federal government shutdown has posed some delays to these discussions.

Should an agreement be reached, Warden stated that Northrop would increase its investments to boost production rates. She suggested that accelerating the B-21 project would lead to greater revenue in 2026, although she refrained from estimating potential financial gains.

“The specific production rates, their scheduling, and the final results of negotiations with the Air Force will shape the financial outlook,” Warden mentioned. “At this point, it is premature to make any predictions.”

The Air Force aims to purchase a minimum of 100 B-21s to replace its aging B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and B-1 Lancers by the 2030s. Warden highlighted that any decision to purchase more than 100 B-21s would be negotiated separately from the discussions about accelerating production.

Warden also mentioned that the program is on course to secure a contract for the third low-rate initial production batch of the B-21, along with an advance procurement contract for the fifth batch in the final quarter of 2025.

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The initiation of flight tests for the second B-21 in September was described as a “significant milestone” by Warden. This marks the transition to a new phase in B-21 flight testing, focusing on the integration of weapons and mission systems.

Several other B-21s are currently undergoing ground testing in preparation for their first flights, aiming to validate their performance and reduce associated risks, Warden explained.

In April, Northrop reported a $477 million loss on the B-21 project, attributing it to a change in the production process designed to expedite bomber manufacturing.

Ken Crews, Northrop’s CFO, mentioned on Tuesday that the costs of producing the B-21’s engineering and manufacturing development flight test aircraft were higher than anticipated, which raised the projected costs of constructing the low-rate initial production bombers.

However, a restructuring of the B-21 contract, which reduced the expected losses on the remaining low-rate initial production lots, essentially offset these increased costs, Crews explained, resulting in a financial balance.