Conference Wire: Air, Space & Cyber 2023, Day 3

There's been some "smack talk" between the engineering teams working on the Air Force's B-21 Raider bomber, Northrop Grumman officials said Wednesday at the Air & Space Forces Association's annual Air, Space & Cyber conference in National Harbor, Md. While the plane's software is ready for its planned first flight later this year, the hardware teams are still wrapping up their preparations.

But more talk at the conference was about drones, and specifically, the collaborative combat aircraft that the Air Force intends to fly into—or maybe even lead into—combat ahead of the B-21 and other aircraft. D1's Audrey Decker has more from the show, here.