![](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/BQZAHO45VAAGLZ4UEAHGXU255Y.jpg?quality=85&w=1360)
![](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/BQZAHO45VAAGLZ4UEAHGXU255Y.jpg?quality=85&w=1360)
The U.S. Air Force is quietly ramping up spending on a future bomber, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service published earlier this month. The Air Force also sent requirements for the program to the industry earlier this week. The goal is a new group of bombers to serve two functions: replace the aging bomber fleet, and safely attack despite future defensive weapons.
Work on Air Force’s next bomber began years ago. Here’s what Popular Science said about it in 2012:
Such a bomber would greatly expand the ability of the Air Force to hit protected places in enemy countries, places beyond the safe reach of America’s still-flying Cold War-era B-52 bombers. The Air Force expects to field between 80 and 100 of the new Long Range Strike Bomber, and they plan to have them ready for action by the mid 2020s.
![Lockheed Long Range Strategic Bomber Concept Art](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/6ZWMDCGANELARB7GETZ4LV6M2Q.jpg?strip=all&quality=85)
In March, people reported and photographed what appeared to be a new, v-shaped aircraft flying over Texas. This theory meshes well with the Congressional Research Service report, which saw a rapid budget increase and notes that:
Despite corporate maneuvering about the contract, both the Air Force and potential industry partners are keeping quiet about the development. In a triumph of blandness, Air Force secretary Deborah Lee James told the U.S. Naval Institute in a statement that “The [Long range Strike Bomber] is a top modernization priority for the Air Force. It will be an adaptable and highly capable system based upon mature technology.”