The big reveal of the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber finally took place Friday night in a Hollywood production-worthy glamorous announcement as the aircraft rolled out of its hangar in California, but details about the new aircraft have been revealed. Every effort has been made to ensure that it will remain shrouded in secrecy.
Under cover of night, the plane slowly emerges from its hangar, bathed in dramatic blue lighting, not much is apparent other than the plane’s similarities in shape to the B-2 Stealth Bomber it will replace. was.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is one of 600 VIPs and 2,000 Northrop Grumman employees who have spent the past seven years at Northrop Grumman’s large-scale unveiling at Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. I’ve been working on a new bomber.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks at the B-21 Raider unveiling ceremony at Northrop Grumman Air Force Base 42, Palmdale, Calif., December 2, 2022. Can fly without crew. Costing about $700 million apiece, the B-21 is the first new U.S. bomber in decades, gradually replacing his B-1 and B-2 aircraft, which first flew during the Cold War. will be replaced. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN/AFP) (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
“The B-21 is impressive, but what’s under the frame and the space-age coating is even more impressive,” Austin said in remarks after the bomber was unveiled. No other long-range bomber can match its efficiency, it doesn’t need to be based in theater, it doesn’t need logistical support to endanger its targets.”
“This aircraft represents 50 years of advances in low-observation technology,” said Austin. “And even the most advanced air defense systems would have trouble detecting his B-21s in the sky.”
The new long-range aircraft is designed to deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons while flying undetected by advanced radar and air defense systems anywhere in the world.
The B-21 Raider was unveiled during a ceremony on December 2, 2022, at Northrop Grumman Air Force Base 42, Palmdale, California. crew. Costing about $700 million apiece, the B-21 is the first new U.S. bomber in decades, gradually replacing his B-1 and B-2 aircraft, which first flew during the Cold War. will be replaced. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN/AFP) (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
“U.S. defense has always been rooted in conflict deterrence,” Austin said. ”
Over the past 70-plus years that the plane has been in development, the Air Force’s sixth-generation stealth bomber has been criticized to avoid providing hints that it could remain undetected by advanced radar. Few details are provided.
And it has literally been kept secret.
The first glimpse of what the new aircraft might look like was in the final seconds of the 2015 Northrop Grumman Super Bowl ad.
What you see is a B-21 Raider artist rendered graphic.
Courtesy of Northrop Grumman
Since then, Northrop Grumman has only released artist renderings of a flying wing-shaped aircraft that closely resembles a B-2 bomber. This wing-shaped aircraft uses its geometry and airframe materials and coatings to reduce the radar footprint. The new B-21 is believed to improve on his 30-year-old technology.
“The real difference is inside the platform, because from the time we built the B-2 to the time we built the B-21, the digital Because you can think about how much progress has been made.” The officer told Breaking Defense in an interview ahead of the plane’s big announcement.
The aircraft, announced Friday, began its first flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base in California, with first flight projections expected in mid-2023. With six B-21s currently in various stages of production, the Air Force has acquired at least 100 new bombers, with the first one expected to enter service in his mid-2020s.
What you see is a B-21 Raider artist rendered graphic.
Courtesy of Northrop Grumman
When they enter service, they will eventually replace the B-1 Lancet and B-2 Spirit bomber fleets, joining the venerable B-52 as the U.S. Air Force’s long-range strategic bomber.
Bloomberg estimates that developing and operating 100 B-21s will cost $203 billion over the next 30 years.
Unless temporarily deployed overseas, the B-2 fleet is housed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The Air Force plans to operate his new B-21s at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, though Dyce Air Force Base in Texas could be another location.
In 2016, the Air Force announced that a new bomber would come to be known as the Raider, in honor of the famous Doolittle Raiders who carried out a surprise attack on Tokyo on April 18, 1942.
