OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

CRUNCH ALL YOU WANT, WE’LL MAKE MORE: ELON CAN LITERALLY LAUNCH THEM FASTER THAN PUTIN CAN SHOOT THEM DOWN:

BE PREPARED:

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Would You Give This Man Your Passwords? “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news, and this week, we’ll learn the absolute last person to call for tech support, the proper etiquette for being hauled drunk out of a canal, and more about Shrek than you ever wanted to know.”

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD:

AMERICA’S NEWS SOURCE OF RECORD:

FASTER? PLEASE! B-21 Testing, Manufacturing Ramp Up: ‘We’re Moving Fast.’

“It’s more than construction,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink wrote in a social media post. “We’re moving fast to build B-21s!”

The Air Force Test Center has likewise been moving quickly to test the bomber ahead of its introduction into service next year. Brig. Gen. Mark Massaro, head of the Air Force Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up when asked about the program at an Oct. 6 event. The aircraft first flew in 2023, and two bombers are currently known to be undergoing testing at the base.

“I can’t give you many details about specifics on how it’s going, but I am very closely tied into that program and have been getting regular updates,” Massaro said during a discussion hosted by AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “We are actively testing right now.”

Less than 30 miles away, Northrop is already building B-21s at its Air Force Plant 42 facility in Palmdale, Calif., but the new construction will add 1 million square feet of production space. Meink said it will be the “final assembly line” for new bombers.

We get so few procurement wins on big-ticket items, that it’s nice to be able to point one out now and then.