Northrop Grumman opens East Gate 3 facility in Utah to accelerate B-21 Raider bomber production

Northrop Grumman opened the East Gate 3 manufacturing facility in Layton, Utah, on September 9 to expand production infrastructure for the U.S. Air Force's B-21 Raider. The wider East Gate campus is planned to encompass about 845,000 square feet and provide capacity for up to 1,500 employees by 2032, while the combined Layton-Clearfield footprint now exceeds two million square feet. The expansion supports B-21 production and follows $4.5 billion in 2025 legislation intended to increase annual production capacity by 25%. Two Raiders are in flight testing, additional aircraft are in production or ground testing, and Ellsworth Air Force Base is scheduled to receive the first operational aircraft in 2027.