Goldfein: Air Force will likely need more than 100 B-21s

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told lawmakers Tuesday he anticipates an ongoing review of the service's aircraft force-structure requirements will point to a need for more than 100 B-21 bombers.

"I fully expect that the requirement is going to be above that," Goldfein said during an April 24 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The Air Force has said it expects to need a minimum of 100 B-21s and a total fleet of at least 175 bombers, but hasn't provided further details on its requirement. Goldfein told lawmakers the service is in the midst of refining those numbers as part of a broader look at its force-structure needs across its aircraft portfolio.

That analysis, directed by the National Defense Strategy, is expected to be completed by the end of August.

"As we look forward to the future, we owe you now what the size of the Air Force needs to be to be able to accomplish the National Defense Strategy tasks and that's what we'll come back to you with, telling you what the requirement is for the force of bombers we need,” he said.

Separately, the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act directs the service to conduct three aircraft inventory studies by March 2019. One would be led by the Air Force secretary in cooperation with the Office of Net Assessment, another would be performed by a federally funded research and development center, and the third by an independent, non-government institute with national security expertise.