Air Force Unveils B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber

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Credit: UX Gun/Unsplash

According to Northrop Grumman, the B-21 Raider would serve as a “visible and adaptable deterrent” in the country’s strategic triad, as reported by Fox News.

Classified program

The U.S. Air Force B-21 Raider was unveiled by the American military on Friday in Palmdale, California.

Almost every detail of the B-21 Raider programme is classified, and photos suggest that it resembles the B-2 Spirit. It is the first brand-new American bomber aircraft in more than three decades.

The launch of the most recent nuclear stealth bomber, according to the aircraft maker Northrop Grumman, will be the first time the general public will see a sixth-generation aircraft.

The business stated in a release that after it is given to the Air Force, the B-21 “will join the nation’s strategic triad as a visible and adaptable deterrent; supporting national security goals and guaranteeing the nation’s friends and partners.”

Nuclear missile launch

Nuclear ballistic missiles launched from silos and warheads launched from submarines make up the nuclear triad.

The Associated Press was informed by Kathy Warden, CEO of Northrop Grumman, that the B-21 has a very sophisticated operation.

The business claimed that by utilising agile software development, cutting-edge manufacturing methods, digital engineering tools, and cloud technologies, it is optimised for the high-end threat environment.

According to Northrop Grumman, ongoing efforts are being made to ensure that the B-21 “will overcome the anti-access, area-denial systems it will encounter.”

Warden stated that the bomber was more stealthy and slightly smaller than the B-2 but was unable to get into further detail about those technologies.

When we talk about low observability, she explained, “it is extremely low observability.” “You won’t actually see it, but you’ll hear it,”

New techniques

According to some defence analysts, such modifications might include new techniques to manage electronic emissions, the employment of new propulsion technologies, and the use of modern materials in coatings to make the bomber tougher to detect.

The Air Force intends to construct 100 B-21 Raiders, which may be used with or without a crew, despite the fact that only six are currently in production.

Although it was anticipated that the bombers would cost roughly $550 million each in 2010 currencies or roughly $750 million in today’s inflation-adjusted values, the price is still unknown, and the Raider won’t take off until next year.

Virtual clone

The business has been employing a virtual clone to test its performance.

Since the contract was granted in 2015, Northrop Grumman has put together a team of over 8,000 people from the corporation, business associates, and the Air Force made up of more than 400 suppliers from 40 different states.

The bomber was officially unveiled in front of select guests such as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Complex threats

In 2015, Deborah Lee James, the secretary of the Air Force, stated that “we required a new bomber for the twenty-first century that would allow us to take on far more difficult threats, like the ones that we worry we will one day face from China and Russia.” “The B-21 can handle these considerably more complex threats because it is more resilient.”

Austin remarked at the occasion that the B-21 Raider was the first strategic bomber in more than three decades. “It is evidence of the United States’ ongoing advantages in creativity and invention. Additionally, it demonstrates the Department’s ongoing dedication to developing cutting-edge capabilities that will strengthen America’s capacity to thwart aggression both now and in the future.”

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Source: Fox News