Air Force
B-21 Raider in flight: Air Force releases photos of stealth bomber on test run
Stars and Stripes
May 26, 2024
A B-21 Raider conducts flight tests, which include ground testing, taxiing and flying operations, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The B-21 will possess the range, access and payload to penetrate the most highly-contested threat environments and hold any target around the globe at risk, the Air Force says. (U.S. Air Force)
The Air Force last week released in-flight photos of the B-21 Raider, the nation’s newest nuclear stealth bomber.
Testing is ongoing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., according a base news release.
The B-21 is a long-range, highly survivable penetrating strike stealth bomber that will incrementally replace the B-1 and B-2 bombers and play a major role supporting national security objectives and assuring U.S. allies and partners across the globe, according to the Air Force.
“The flight test program is proceeding well,” Andrew Hunter, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee this month in Washington. “It is doing what flight test programs are designed to do, which is helping us learn about the unique characteristics of this platform, but in a very, very effective way.”
A B-21 Raider conducts flight tests, which include ground testing, taxiing and flying operations, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (U.S. Air Force)
The bomber was formally unveiled Dec. 2, 2022, and the plan is that it will become the backbone of the U.S. Air Force bomber fleet. It is expected to enter service in the mid-2020s with a production goal of a minimum of 100 aircraft.
Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., will be the first B-21 main operating base and location of the Formal Training Unit. Whiteman AFB, Mo., and Dyess AFB, Texas, are the preferred locations for the remaining bases.
The B-21 Raider program continues flight testing at Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The B- (U.S. Air Force)