Although every effort was taken to guarantee that information about the new aircraft will continue to be cloaked in secret, the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber’s big reveal finally took place Friday night when the aircraft was rolled out of a California hanger. The jet quietly climbed out of the hangar under cover of night, bathed in stunning blue illumination that revealed nothing beyond the plane’s resemblance to the B-2 stealth bomber it is meant to replace.
2,000 Northrop Grumman employees and 600 VIPs attended the big announcement at Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, where Northrop Grumman has been developing the new bomber for the past seven years. Among them was U.S. Défense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
“Fifty years of advances in low observable technology have gone into this aircraft”
“And even the most sophisticated air defense systems will struggle to detect a B-21 in the sky”
U.S. Défense Secretary Lloyd Austin
“The B-21 looks imposing but what’s under the frame and the space age coatings is even more impressive,” Austin said in remarks after the bomber was unveiled. “Let’s talk about the B-21’s range. No other long range bomber can match its efficiency. It won’t need to be based in theatre. It won’t need logistical support to hold any target at risk.”
“Fifty years of advances in low observable technology have gone into this aircraft,” said Austin. “And even the most sophisticated air defense systems will struggle to detect a B-21 in the sky.”
The new long-range aircraft is intended to travel undetected by sophisticated radars and air defence systems all across the world while delivering both conventional and nuclear missiles.
The Air Force’s sixth-generation stealth bomber has been under development for seven decades, but little information has been released about it to prevent giving away any secrets about how it might elude detection by cutting-edge radars. And it has been shrouded in mystery literally.
The first glance at the future aircraft came in the last seconds of a Northrop Grumman Super Bowl commercial in 2015. The plane was shrouded, so all that could be seen were the overall shapes of its wings. Since then, Northrop Grumman has only made available artist’s conceptions of an aeroplane with wings that resembles the B-2 bomber in flight and employs that form, as well as materials and coatings on the fuselage, to lessen radar signature. It is anticipated that the brand-new B-21 will advance a 30-year-old technology.
The maiden flight of the aircraft, which was revealed on Friday, is anticipated to happen in the middle of 2023. Initial flight testing will start at Edwards AFB in California. The Air Force aims to purchase at least 100 of the new bombers, with the first one entering service in the middle of the 2020s. Currently, there are six B-21 aircraft in various stages of manufacturing.
They will ultimately replace the B-1 Lancet and B-2 Spirit bomber fleets when they enter service, joining the legendary B-52 as the long-range strategic bomber for the U.S. Air Force.
According to Bloomberg, the fleet of 100 B-21s will reportedly cost $203 billion to produce and run over the course of the next 30 years. The B-2 fleet is based at Whiteman AFB in Missouri, unless they are temporarily deployed abroad. The new B-21 will reportedly be flown by the Air Force out of Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota, however Dyess AFB in Texas may serve as a backup base. The Doolittle Raiders, who carried out the daring bombing mission on Tokyo on April 18, 1942, are celebrated, and the Air Force stated in 2016 that the new bomber will be named the Raider in their honour.
