“We can actually have more airplanes available for the combatant commander by getting rid of the oldest, most problem-prone aircraft," the Air Force said.
B-21 Stealth Bomber Update: Set to Fly Next Year?
The first serial B-21s are expected to begin operations in the mid-2020s. The current target is to have at least one hundred of the B-21 Raiders in service by the early 2030s to replace the aging fleet of Air Force bombers.
It has been a busy month for Air Force Gen. Timothy Ray, the head of the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command. He took part in a very special tour, one that involved seeing the progress that is being made on the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider. The aircraft’s first flight could still be a year away, but Gen. Ray made the rounds to check in to make sure that is still on track.
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B-21 Raider, the Air Force’s new bomber now in development, will have as much in common with its Cold War-era predecessors B-1/B-2/B-52 bombers as the F-35 Lightning II has in common with its World War II-era predecessor P-38 Lightning.
For example, the B-21 represents a significant step forward over the 30-year-old B-2 Spirit, as the B-21 is being designed by Northrop Grumman (who also built the B-2) to survive against the most advanced modern air defense systems such as Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system and China’s J-20 stealth fighter, which entered service in 2017.
The B-21 will be a marvel of contemporary manufacturing that takes advantage of the latest digital capabilities to improve design, manufacturing, and support. Digital development is a new direction in procurement for the Air Force and the Defense Department writ large.