B-21 News: Will The Raider Be A Drone In 2015, a development contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman for the 21 century’s first bomber. Since then, speculation has ranged far and wide as to the capabilities and characteristics of the new aircraft.
The Air Force has been highly protective of the details of the B-21’s design. The only images the service has released depicting the new bomber are the artist renditions.
In 2017, John McCain fought with the Department Of Defense after the Senate Armed Services Committee was denied information on additional spending for the program.
B-2 VS B-21
With little known about the B-21, people are asking: What is the difference between the B-2 and B-21? The B-21 will pick up where its predecessor left off. At first glance they look very similar, a flying wing design Northrop got right more than 30 years ago. The B-21 may be the design the B-2 was always meant to be.
The B-2 was always intended to be operational at 60,000 feet. During the design phase, the USAF demanded a low-altitude penetration capability to the project. After fear of Russian radars neutralizing the B-2’s low observable attributes, the official flight ceiling for the B-2 was dropped to 50,000 feet. So, How high will the B-21 fly? It’s likely the B-21 will reach the high-flying goal of 60,000 feet.
The B-21 Raider shares a similar tail as the Northrop X-47B which was entirely unmanned
Other ways the B-21 is different from the B-2: The B-21 will network with various American assets and share data with squadrons of planes and other aircraft, giving a complete picture of the battlefield.
Beyond Bomber
With Battle Space Networking it will direct long range missiles fired from other American craft. A new Freedom Of Information Act request revealed the B-21 Raider will have manned or unmanned capabilities. So, Will the B-21 be a drone? It will have air-to-air capabilities which means it can control benign drones.
Air Force officials have shown little interest in having that capability on Day One of the plane’s service life. However, in this modern age of unmanned aircraft, this may prove unwise; an unmanned option would increase the U.S. military’s operational flexibility, providing much-needed endurance and persistence at only a marginal increase in cost.
To date, the Air Force has confirmed that the B-21 will be inhabited — that is, it will carry aircrew — when it enters service around 2025 and that it will be nuclear-certified about two years later. (It has also said no nuclear missions will take place without crew aboard.) However, the service has not offered a definitive statement on when the aircraft is expected to feature an uninhabited capability. It is reportedly “not a short-term priority” for the Air Force, and thus unlikely to be incorporated into early production models. B-21 News
The stealth bomber is rumored to be under construction now at the company’s Plant 42 facility in Palmdale, CA & set to make its first flight December 2021.
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