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The Most Protective Aircraft Program: Will the Air-to-air Capabilities of B-21 Raider be a Drone?

The Most Protective Aircraft  Program: Will the Air-to-air Capabilities of B-21 Raider be a Drone? 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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