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B-21 Raider first flight [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-11-10
From Air & Space Forces Magazine, John A. Tirpak and Chris Gordon
..The event fulfills the prediction by manufacturer Northrop Grumman and the Air Force that the new stealth bomber would fly before the end of 2023, and clears the way for the Air Force to issue a low-rate initial production contract for the bomber. The duration of the flight suggests that the flight could have been more than a ferry hop to Edwards and that a test card may have been conducted, which can evaluate flying qualities. Flight tracking websites indicated the aircraft was flying a roundabout pattern between Palmdale and Edwards. The service did not immediately release imagery, and the flight was not announced beforehand, which is consistent with the Air Force’s statements that the bomber would fly when it was ready to and not according to a calendar schedule. “As confirmed by the U.S. Air Force, the B-21 Raider is in flight test,” Northrop Grumman spokesperson said. “The robust flight test campaign is being executed by a Combined Test Force comprised of Northrop Grumman and Air Force personnel that will validate our digital models and moves us another step closer to reaching operational capability.”
There’s more detail at the link, including a short video and more photos of the plane in flight. This is just the beginning of test flights before the bomber, one of an initial production run of six, goes into active service. Northrop Grumman does not expect to make any profits from this initial lot of aircraft which are expected to cost $700 million apiece. The program began in 2015 as the Long Range Strike Bomber. It was renamed in 2016 to honor the Doolittle Raiders.
The B-21 is a follow-on to the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. 21 were built starting in 1978; one was lost in a crash in 2008. The Raider is intended to replace both the B-2 and the B-1 Lancer.
Presumably quite a bit has been learned from building, operating, and maintaining the B-2 Spirit. The photos in Air & Space Forces Magazine show some obvious differences in the overall shape of the bomber, but a lot of the stealth features involve materials and construction that are not immediately obvious to the eye. How those lessons have been applied to the B-21 are highly classified. It remains to be seen how many will be built and what role they will fill given the rapid evolution of drone aircraft — and the rising tensions over Ukraine, the Middle East, and Taiwan.
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