"Today, we're talking about purchasing 100 of them; that's a down payment only. There is no way that we can look at challenging or at least being able to deter both Russia and China unless we substantially increase the number of B-21s that we’re looking at purchasing," Rounds said at a Hudson Institute talk.
He noted that the B-21 can be refueled, plus the bombers can loiter in the area, and carry conventional and nuclear weapons while having long-range capabilities – key features for the US to fight either "near-peer" rival in the Pacific theater. Russia and China currently do not have defensive capabilities against the B-21, the senator added.
Rounds added that the US wanted peace, but to achieve it, it needed the B-21 as a "hammer" for deterrence.