Pentagon officials announced the low-rate production of Northop Grumman’s B-21 Raider, a stealth bomber expected to be in service by 2027, according to reports.
Defense News reported that the Pentagon’s acquisition chief, William LaPlante told reporters he approved production in the Fall, after seeing results of the aircraft’s flight and ground tests.
"One of the key attributes of this program has been designing for production from start – and at scale – to provide a credible deterrent to adversaries," he said. "If you don’t produce and field warfighters at scale, the capability doesn’t really matter."
The B-21 will be part of the Air Force, which will begin fielding a fleet of a minimum of 100 B-21 Raiders, the first of which will go into service by 2027.
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The new stealth bomber is being rolled out to replace the current B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit and is expected to enter service by 2027. By 2040, the B-21 is expected to completely replace the older bombers.
The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) says on its site that the B-21 will be a dual-capable penetrating strike stealth bomber that can deliver both conventional and nuclear munitions.
"The B-21 will form the backbone of the future Air Force bomber force consisting of B-21s and B-52s," the site says. "Designed to operate in tomorrow’s high-end threat environment, the B-21 will play a critical role in ensuring America’s enduring airpower capability."
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According to a Pentagon estimate in 2022, the B-21 Raider will come in at a cost of nearly $700 million for each aircraft. The first test flight of the new bomber is expected to take place later this year.
General Thomas A. Bussiere, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command, spoke at the 2023 Air and Space Forces Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado in March 2023, and said the Air Force plans to acquire 220 or more bombers, in the long-term plan.
The U.S. Air Force said in a press release that the plane was designed with an open architecture that allows for the quick insertion of mature technologies. It was also designed for supportability, maintainability and sustainability.
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"The technologies that are integrated, and the open architecture system will provide any potential capabilities to advance, modernize and keep that weapon system on the leading edge of a threat in the future," Bussiere said.
The B-21 Raider is the first new American bomber aircraft in more than three decades, and almost every aspect of the program has been classified.
When the bomber was first unveiled in December 2022, Northrop Grumman said the rollout of the newest nuclear stealth bomber marked the first time the world’s first sixth-generation aircraft would be seen by the public.
"When delivered to the Air Force, the B-21 will join the nation’s strategic triad as a visible and flexible deterrent; supporting national security objectives and assuring the nation’s allies and partners," the company said in a release.
The nuclear triad includes silo-launched nuclear ballistic missiles and submarine-launched warheads.
