At the Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in Washington, DC, the US Air Force and prime contractor Northrop Grumman have released the first video of its B-21 Raider nuclear bomber in flight, along with an update on the B-21 program.
On September 18, 2024, a series of updates on the B-21 were provided by a panel consisting of General Thomas Bussiere, Air Force Global Strike Command commander; Major General Jason Armagost, Eighth Air Force and Joint-Global Strike Operations Center commander; William Bailey, Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office director; and Thomas Jones, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems sector president.
Along with the video showing the bomber going through a series of take off and landing aerial maneuvers, the updates included the B-21 prototype G-1 completing static tests to determine the aircraft’s structural integrity and how well the actual vehicle compares to the digital models being used to design and build it.
Defense One B-21 Flight
So far, three prototypes in different configurations have been delivered by Northrop Grumman to the Air Force. What’s unusual about these is that instead of being technology demonstrators, B-21 prototypes are as close as possible to the production models. According to the company, this is one reason the testing program has made so much progress in only 12 months, including flying as much as two test flights per week and extensive fatigue testing.
The B-21 is intended to incrementally replace the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers as more of the new aircraft are built and the older ones are retired. Eventually, the B-21 fleet will replace even the venerable B-52 Stratofortress when the last are retired sometime in the 2050s. This will leave the B-21 as America’s only heavy conventional bomber and will comprise the airborne leg of the US nuclear deterrent triad force, which also includes land-based ICBMs and submarine-based SLBMs.
Under current plans, 100 of the aircraft will be built, with the first slated to be delivered to Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota by 2027, followed by Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
US Air Force
“We are the free world’s only bomber force,” said Bussiere. “We’re probably not going to see a decreased demand signal from our regional combatant commands on bomber task forces. That demand signal, in my opinion, is only going to go up in the years ahead. As we transition from legacy to new, the B-21 fleet will provide great comfort to our allies and should provide great pause to any potential adversary.
“Nobody on the planet can do what we’re doing right now. Nobody on the planet can build an exquisite, technologically-advanced platform like the B-21, and quite frankly, nobody on the planet can hold at risk what we can hold at risk at a time and place of our choosing.”
Source: US Air Force