The U.S. Air Force's new bomber, the B-21 Raider, made its maiden flight at Northrop Grumman's Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., on Nov. 10, another major development after its debut last December.
The B-21 is a sixth-generation military aircraft developed by Northrop Grumman, similar in appearance to the current B-2** bomber, both with a flying wing design. However, the B-21 has more advanced stealth technology, cyber capabilities and an open system architecture that can perform both conventional and nuclear strike missions, making it the future bomber workhorse of the U.S. Air Force.
The first flight of the B-21 was not publicly announced in advance, but some aviation enthusiasts were already anticipating the moment, knowing that the B-21 had completed runway taxiing tests. They also offer some high-definition ** and have even been officially quoted by the United States**.
On the day of the first flight, a number of posts and ** about the B-21 also appeared on the X-video platform. The B-21 can be seen flying through the sky like an arrow, with the landing gear not retracted, flying low along a road, accompanied by an F-16 fighter jet. Aviation experts explained that the aircraft will keep the landing gear down on its first flight, on the one hand, to respond to emergencies, and on the other hand, to test the stability of the fuselage under high drag.
The three magazines of the B-21 can also be vaguely seen in *, one in the fuselage ** and two near the landing gear on both sides.
The Associated Press reported that the B-21's maiden flight was the site of its debut, the Northrop Grumman plant in Palmdale, Calif. The U.S. Air Force said in a statement that the flight tests of the B-21 were an important step in the entire test flight process.
"The B-21 Raider is undergoing flight testing, a critical step in a test campaign managed by the Air Force Test Center and the B-21 Joint Test Force of the 412th Test Wing to provide survivability, long-range penetrating strike capabilities to deter aggression and strategic attacks on the United States and its allies and partners," U.S. Air Force spokesperson Annstefanek told Aerospace**. ”
The B-21 has a very simple flying wing shape, with a W-shaped trailing edge and almost no features on the underside. Compared to the B-2, the center body of the B-21 was deeper, and the lower surface between the main and nose landing gear was almost flat. The leading edge is curved, and the trailing edge has distinct control surfaces, including the drag rudder on the outside.
The engines of the B-21 are not yet known, but the two engine air intakes are very small, and some speculate that they are two F135 engines, which will enhance stealth, while improving reliability and maintainability, and reducing operating costs.
The size of the B-21 is somewhat smaller than that of the B-2, with a wingspan of 52 meters for the B-2 and an estimated 40 for the B-21 (130 feet, or about 39.).624 meters), the length of the B-2 is 21 meters, the B-21 is estimated at 15 to 17 meters. The weight of the B-21 was 68038856 tons (150,000 pounds).
The combat radius of the B-21 may not exceed 5000 km, and without refueling in the air, the range may be about 10 thousand km, and the internal bomb load may be between 10 and 15 tons, but this will reduce costs and increase deployment, and the positioning of the B-21 may be closer to a tactical bomber than a strategic bomber.
The B-21 is currently in engineering and manufacturing development, with aircraft deliveries expected to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in the mid-2020s.
The first flight of the B-21 comes at a time when the Air Force and Northrop Grumman are maintaining a high level of secrecy about the test milestones. The Air Force needs to complete its first flight before it can award Northrop Grumman's first low-volume contract.
Kathywarden, president and CEO of Northrop Grumman, admitted that the company would not make any profit on its first production contract due to the project's fixed** contract, inflation and the impact of labor costs. However, the company said it expects to receive $60 million in compensation from the Air Force to alleviate those additional expenses.
"A joint test unit consisting of Northrop Grumman and Air Force personnel is conducting a robust flight test campaign that will validate our digital model and bring us one step closer to achieving combat capability," the company said in a statement. ”
The US Air Force plans to purchase at least 100 B-21s to replace all existing B-1B and B-2 bombers, keeping only the upgraded 75 B-52 bombers. According to the calculation of 2023**, the cost of each B-21 is about 700 million US dollars.
In addition to the JASSM series and LRASM, the B-21 may also have new companion munitions, such as the LRSO Long-Range Stand-Off, a nuclear strike cruise missile to replace the AGM-86, and an air-breathing hypersonic attack cruise missile (HACM).