Northrop Grumman Corp. unveiled its latest stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, this month at a Los Angeles manufacturing facility. The unveiling on Dec. 2 marked the first time the sixth-generation aircraft was seen by the public.
The B-21 benefits from more than three decades of stealth and strike technology and represents the next evolution of the U.S. Air Force strategic bomber fleet, according to a release from Northrop, the Falls Church, Virginia-basec defense and aerospace contractor.
“It will play a critical role in helping the Air Force meet its most complex missions,” the release said.
Six B-21 Raiders are in various stages of final assembly and testing at Northrop’s plant in Palmdale. Northrop also has facilities in El Segundo, Azusa and Redondo Beach, among others.
The B-21 Raider forms the backbone of the future for U.S. air power. The airplane will deliver a new era of capability and flexibility through advanced integration of data, sensors and weapons, the company’s release said.
“Capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear payloads, the B-21 will be one of the most effective aircraft in the sky, with the ability to use a broad mix of stand-off and direct attack munitions,” the Northrop release added.
Doug Young, sector vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems, called the plane “the most advanced military aircraft ever built” and “a product of pioneering innovation and technological excellence.”
“The Raider showcases the dedication and skills of the thousands of people working every day to deliver this aircraft,” Young said in a statement in September.
Since winning the B-21 contract in 2015, Northrop has assembled a nationwide team to design, test and build the aircraft. The team includes more than 8,000 people from Northrop, industry partners and the Air Force.
In addition to affording combatant commanders the ability to attack any target, anywhere in the world, it has also been designed as the lead component of a larger family of aircrafts that will deliver intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and electronic attack capabilities.
The B-21 has been designed for rapid upgradeability. The aircraft, unlike earlier generations of planes, will not undergo block upgrades, or the introduction of improvements to a major weapon system, on a periodic basis.
“New technology, capabilities and weapons will be seamlessly incorporated through agile software upgrades and built-in hardware flexibility,” the Northrop release said. “This will ensure the B-21 Raider can continuously meet the evolving threat head on for decades to come.”
Northrop Grumman and the Air Force successfully demonstrated the migration of B-21 ground systems data to a cloud environment, the release continued.
“This robust cloud-based digital infrastructure will result in a more maintainable and sustainable aircraft with lower-cost infrastructure,” the release added.
