{"id":1770515,"date":"2022-12-09T06:30:17","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T11:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1770515"},"modified":"2022-12-09T10:34:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T15:34:43","slug":"b-21-raider-stealth-bomber-everything-we-know-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/b-21-raider-stealth-bomber-everything-we-know-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber: Everything We Know Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fb-21-raider-stealth-bomber-everything-we-know-right-now%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1770515&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/B-21-Raider-YouTube.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\"     style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Just What Did We Actually Learn from the Air Force\u2019s B-21 Reveal?<\/strong> In an exclusive ceremony at the U.S. Air Force\u2019s Plant 42 facility near Palmdale, California last Friday, the Air Force unveiled the B-21 Raider, its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/12\/b-21-raider-unveiling-a-message-to-china-and-russia-you-bet-it-was\/\">first new bomber in three decades<\/a>. The event began with project worker Johan Riley singing the national anthem while the Global Strike Command\u2019s three active strategic bombers flew overhead: the iconic eight-engine B-52, the large but sleek supersonic <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalinterest.org\/blog\/reboot\/how-b-1-lancer-bomber-became-isis-killer-171286\">B-1B Lancer<\/a>, and finally the batwing-like B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.\n<\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<\/p>\n<p>Northrop-Grumman CEO Kathy Warden, Admiral Christopher Grady, and defense secretary Lloyd Austin each gave speeches. In between, a tarp was lifted to reveal a flying wing aircraft similar to but smaller than the B-2.\n<\/p>\n<p>In truth, most of what was seen and said of the B-21 was in line with expectations established in concept art and prior official commentary.\n<\/p>\n<p>Nor did the speakers reveal new, concrete details about incorporated technologies or performance characteristics. For more about those expectations, you can check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/12\/b-21-raider-stealth-bomber-the-definitive-guide\/\">this prior article<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, some of the speakers\u2019 rhetoric, and the physical characteristics visible at the unveiling, provide additional hints for what is effectively the 21<sup>st<\/sup> century\u2019s first new bomber.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>B-21: New stealth geometry.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Despite the expected resemblance to the B-2 (also built by Northrop), the B-21\u2019s reduced size and weight allowed engineers to use just two instead of four wheels per landing gear. The <a href=\"https:\/\/aviationweek.com\/defense-space\/aircraft-propulsion\/how-b-21-windscreen-change-hints-larger-design-shift\">B-21\u2019s peculiar windows<\/a> have also received much attention. Though it seems the crew may primarily rely on external sensors for situational awareness, the backup option of the Mark 1 eyeball has been retained. Positioned as they are, the windows seem most useful, providing visibility while \u2018hooking up\u2019 with refueling tankers above. The Raider\u2019s engine inlets are also noticeably nestled even deeper into the wing than in the B-2, better shielding their radar-reflective fan blades.\n<\/p>\n<p>The Raider had very few visible seams or hardpoints for weapons and sensors, the protrusion of which increases radar cross-section. That suggests the B-21\u2019s optical and radar sensors may be built into the aircraft\u2019s skin. Such a configuration could also enable the implementation of future upgrades or equipment swaps internally without degrading the stealthy exterior geometry.<\/p>\n<p>The Raider\u2019s side and rear aspects were not shown. Concept art suggested a cleaner, more straightforward configuration than the sawtooth pattern on the B-2, which was a compromise between stealth and improved low-altitude handling.\n<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s certain is that the Raider, like the B-2, will be aimed at rare \u201call-aspect stealth.\u201d That is because its job is to penetrate deep into hostile airspace, its side and rear aspects must also remain low-observable to radar installations it slips past.\n<\/p>\n<p>Grady stated the B-21 will deliver both standoff range and implicitly shorter-range precision weapons. The former indeed refers to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalinterest.org\/blog\/the-buzz\/americas-jassm-missile-has-one-goal-crush-russia-chinas-a2-25489\">AGM-158 JASSM stealth cruise missiles<\/a> and the in-development <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalinterest.org\/blog\/buzz\/air-force-developing-stealthy-nuclear-tipped-cruise-missile-its-bomber-148096\">LRSO nuclear-armed cruise missile<\/a>; the latter includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/07\/b61-12-nuclear-bomb-what-air-force-planes-can-actually-use-it\/\">B61-12 nuclear glide bombs<\/a>, 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-busting bomb, and other shorter-range missiles and bombs.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>High-flying ghosts<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Raider is painted a ghostly light grey in contrast to the B-2\u2019s non-reflective black. This is <em>not<\/em> a choice driven by aesthetics; it hints at how the B-21 may be used differently than the B-2, which was optimized to penetrate hostile airspace at low altitudes at night.\n<\/p>\n<p>The new Raider with a simplified tail, however, seems likely to fly at high altitudes, where a muted gray visually blends into the surrounding sky and clouds better than a stark black silhouette.\n<\/p>\n<p>As friction-inducing air molecules are thinner at high altitudes, high flying allows airplanes to go further, faster, while beyond the reach of many short-range air-defense weapons. However, up high they\u2019re more exposed to long-distance air defense radars and missiles. The change likely reflects greater confidence the B-21\u2019s low observability has advanced to the point it can handle increased exposure while reaping the benefits of high-altitude operations.\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What they didn\u2019t say\u2014unmanned capability.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>One word left unuttered during the unveiling was \u201coptionally-manned\u201d, referring to aircraft capable of flying with or without onboard crew. Initially, optional unmanned operations were advertised as a feature, but over time the Pentagon mentioned this less and less.\n<\/p>\n<p>The failure of speakers at the ceremony to bring it up while enumerating many other features likely means it won\u2019t be part of the B-21\u2019s regular operational capabilities at service entry. Likely, it has been designed with <em>capacity<\/em> to support unmanned operations but the underlying systems will only be matured into service later, if ever.\n<\/p>\n<p>The Air Force may also need time to develop doctrine on which scenarios it would dispatch B-21s on crewless missions, balancing risks to the crew\u2019s lives against the loss of situational awareness and reactivity onboard crew provide.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>It can fly far, but also operate out of bases the B-2 can\u2019t.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>One factor contributing to very high B-2 operating costs is dependence on highly specialized facilities for maintenance, particularly removal and reapplication of radar-absorbent materials. That limited B-2s to sustainably operating from only a handful of specially prepared airbases.\u00a0 Because of its lower maintenance demands, the presenters highlighted B-21s could be dispersed to attack from more locations in global conflict in addition to mounting long-distance strikes from North America. Dispersal is important as adversaries would attempt to target landed stealth bombers in a high intensity war.\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Digital tools and aerospace engineering revolution<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Given the torturous development problems <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/think\/opinion\/air-force-admits-f-35-fighter-jet-costs-too-much-ncna1259781\">afflicting the Pentagon\u2019s prior stealth aircraft<\/a>, the Air Force and Northrop Grumman are justifiably proud to have developed the B-21 under budget, on schedule, and without drama\u2014so far.\n<\/p>\n<p>But while disciplined program management clearly was important, CEO Kathy Warden also emphasized the importance of new digital design tools permitting aviation engineers to tinker digitally with the design without having to very expensively iterate numerous \u2018one off\u2019 physical prototypes. That means the initial physical prototypes are built much closer to the final configuration of production aircraft, in turn allowing Northrop to build an actual production line for the prototypes that will remain useful for series production.\n<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s good those digital tools helped shepherd the B-21\u2019s development, their potential to \u201cusher in a new paradigm in aircraft design, development and manufacturing\u201d as Warden put it with a \u201cnew [faster-paced] acquisition model\u201d could improve the development of future combat aircraft across the board, particularly the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/12\/ngad-the-6th-generation-fighter-the-air-force-is-betting-on\/\">Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) stealth fighter<\/a> being developed by the Air Force. NGAD\u2019s missions potentially including long-distance escort of B-21s in penetrating raids.\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The bomber that\u2019s not just a bomber.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Since the 1960s, U.S. military aircraft designations use common letter codes to identify their role: B for bomber, C for Cargo, R for reconnaissance and so forth. When an aircraft is modified to perform different roles, extra letters are added\u2014for example, the RC-135 is a cargo aircraft adapted to a reconnaissance role.\n<\/p>\n<p>Judging by the rhetoric, the B-21 could defensibly be described designated the ERB-21, as beyond the core strategic strike mission, its \u201clong-range sensors\u201d (per Admiral Grady) will have an important role in long-endurance intelligence\/surveillance\/reconnaissance (ISR) missions, electronic warfare, and battle management of air and surface forces by helping network command-and-control links.\n<\/p>\n<p>The Raider has also been described as the first-ever \u2018sixth generation aircraft\u2019, a debatable claim as the \u2018generation\u2019 descriptor historically has applied only to fighters, not bombers.\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Fighting alongside friends.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>One message emphasized by all speakers was the B-21\u2019s interoperability with foreign allies. Literally, that means the bomber has datalinks that can easily be adapted to transmit time-sensitive, mission critical data to allied military units and their command and control centers. Such convenient interoperability was not a feature of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/11\/what-an-ngad-vs-f-22-raptor-dogfight-might-look-like\/\">F-22 Raptor<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>However, there\u2019s political messaging there too. Bombers are seen as offensive weapons, but the Raider\u2019s most important use-cases involve coming to the defense of U.S. allies in Asia and Europe. The speakers also argued a robust B-21 force might potentially deter aggressors from using military force entirely.\n<\/p>\n<p>The emphasis on allied integration may also encourage speculation that allies like Australia, Japan or the United Kingdom could be greenlit to procure their own B-21 forces. There are indeed indications the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedefensepost.com\/2022\/08\/25\/us-b-21-bombers-australia\/\">might extend such an offer to Australia<\/a>, possibly as an alternative to nuclear-powered submarines. Whether these countries could foot the bill for even a small B-21 fleet is debatable, though.\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong>It\u2019s here to last.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Though there\u2019s little question the Air Force will receive 100 B-21s, the service would like to expand that to 145 or 175 Raiders if it can\u2014as Austin hinted, ensuring it\u2019s built \u201cin numbers reflecting the strategic environment ahead,\u201d giving the U.S. an \u201cedge that will last for decades to come.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>That was reflected in rhetoric highlighting the bomber\u2019s \u201cstrong bipartisan support in Congress,\u201d as well as Warden\u2019s invocation of the 40 states producing parts for the aircraft, and promises to bring \u201cnew companies into our supplier base.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>But besides such appeals, the speakers emphasized the Raiders will be in service for long time, with capacity for frequent upgrades (\u201crapid technology insertions\u201d per Warden) and support for \u201cweapons that haven\u2019t even been invented yet\u201d (Austin) thanks to its open architecture systems.\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What lies ahead?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Northrop has already built or is building six B-21 prototypes, the first couple of which will first undergo ground tests. If these proceed without major snags, that should lead to a first flight in 2023. Meanwhile, work will begin on integrating mission systems.\n<\/p>\n<p>If all goes well, then the finalized design could begin production in 2025 from the same line used to build the prototypes.\n<\/p>\n<p><em>S\u00e9bastien Roblin writes on the technical, historical and political aspects of international security and conflict for publications including\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalinterest.org\/profile\/sebastien-roblin\">The National Interest<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/think\/opinion\/navy-spent-30b-16-years-fight-iran-littoral-combat-ship-ncna1031806\">NBC News<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/sebastienroblin\/#457ee8ba2082\">Forbes.com<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/warisboring.com\/author\/sebastien-a-roblin\/\">War is Boring<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/author\/sebastien-roblin\/\">19FortyFive<\/a>, where he is Defense-in-Depth editor.\u00a0\u00a0He holds a Master\u2019s degree from Georgetown University and served with the Peace Corps in China.\u00a0\u00a0You can follow his articles on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sebastienroblin\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just What Did We Actually Learn from the Air Force\u2019s B-21 Reveal? In an exclusive ceremony at the U.S. Air Force\u2019s Plant 42 facility near Palmdale, California last Friday, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1898265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[7224,7225,5458,7223,3819,7226],"class_list":["post-1770515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-b-21","tag-bomber","tag-bongino","tag-raider","tag-report","tag-stealth"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1770515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1770515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1770515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1898265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1770515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1770515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1770515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}