US To Unveil Excessive-Tech B-21 Stealth Bomber

The B-21 is on observe to value almost $700 million per aircraft.

Washington:

The US will on Friday unveil the B-21 Raider, a high-tech stealth bomber that may carry nuclear and traditional weapons and is designed to have the ability to fly with no crew on board.

The B-21 — which is on observe to value almost $700 million per aircraft and is the primary new US bomber in a long time — will progressively exchange the B-1 and B-2 plane, which first flew throughout the Chilly Struggle.

“The B-21 would be the spine of our future bomber power. It’ll possess the vary, entry and payload to penetrate probably the most highly-contested risk environments and maintain any goal across the globe in danger,” US Air Pressure spokesperson Ann Stefanek instructed AFP.

The primary B-21 flight is anticipated to happen subsequent 12 months, and the Air Pressure plans to purchase at the very least 100 of the plane, Stefanek mentioned.

Producer Northrop Grumman mentioned six of the planes are at the moment in several phases of meeting and testing at its facility in Palmdale, California, the place the revealing will happen.

The bomber will likely be a key a part of the US “nuclear triad,” which consists of weapons that may be launched from the land, air and sea.

“For nuclear deterrence, the bomber fleet present flexibility to US nuclear posture, and redundance ought to any of the opposite legs fail,” mentioned Amy Nelson, a fellow on the Brookings Establishment assume tank.

Many specifics of the plane are being stored below wraps, however the aircraft ought to provide vital advances over current bombers within the US fleet.

– ‘Designed to evolve’ –

Among the many new capabilities provided by the B-21 is the potential for uncrewed flight. Stefanek mentioned the plane is “provisioned for the likelihood, however there was no resolution to fly with no crew.”

The aircraft additionally options an “open structure,” which is supposed to permit simpler and faster upgrades.

Nelson mentioned the B-21 is “designed to evolve.”

“The ‘open structure’ permits for the long run integration of improved software program (together with for autonomy) so the plane does not change into out of date as shortly,” she mentioned.

“The B-21 is far fancier than its predecessors — really trendy. Not solely is it dual-capable (not like the B-2), which implies it may well launch nuclear or conventionally armed missiles, it may well launch long- and short-range missiles,” Nelson added.

Just like the F-22 and F-35 warplanes, the B-21 will characteristic stealth expertise, which minimizes an plane’s signature via each its form and the supplies it’s constructed from, making it more durable for adversaries to detect.

The expertise has been round for many years, however Northrop mentioned the aircraft will characteristic the “subsequent era of stealth” and that it’s using unspecified “new manufacturing strategies and supplies” on the B-21.

The “Raider” portion of the plane’s identify honors the 1942 US bomber raid on Tokyo led by lieutenant colonel James Doolittle — the primary American strike on Japan’s homeland following the shock assault on Pearl Harbor the earlier 12 months.

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