US Air Force’s secretive $600 million B-21 Raider stealth bomber with blade-like wings designed for carrying out precise H-bomb strikes is revealed in new artist renderings
- US Air Force provides concept images of their upcoming heavy bomber aircraft
- Maker Northrop Grumman says it can deliver precision strikes anywhere globally
- The long-range, stealth strategic bomber is expected to enter service by 2025
Artistic renders have revealed the US Air Force’s top secret $600 million B-21 Raider stealth bomber.
The graphics, released by the US Air Force and manufacturer Northrop Grumman, show the B-21 Raider concept inserted into a photo of a hangar at Dyess, Air Force Base, Texas.
The long-range stealth bomber is expected to come into service in 2025 and will be capable of delivering conventional and theromonuclear weapons.
Thermonuclear bombs, or H-bombs, provide enormous explosive power resulting from chain reactions between isotopes of hydrogen under high temperatures.
The new aircraft will be able to drop thermonuclear bombs on surface targets with greater precision while avoiding detection.
Artist rendering of a B-21 Raider concept in a hangar at Whiteman, Air Force Base, Missouri, one of the future bases to host the new airframe
‘The B-21 Raider will be capable of penetrating the toughest defenses to deliver precision strikes anywhere in the world, playing a vital role in America’s national security,’ said Northrop Grumman.
B-21 Raider ‘will support America’s defense strategy by forming the backbone of the Air Force’s future strike and deterrent capabilities’, according to the US Secretary of Defense.
The W-shaped aircraft will complement existing Rockwell B-1 Lancer, Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, and Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber fleets in US service and eventually replace these bombers.
Renders provided by the US Air Force show the new, secret $600 million B-21 Raider stealth bomber’s sleek frame and landing gear
It will operate out of Dyess, Air Force Base, Texas, as well as Ellsworth Airforce Base in South Dakota and Whiteman in Missouri.
Northrop Grumman received the contract to build the aircraft back in 2015, but since then only one piece of concept art of the secret bomber has existed.
The new renders conceal key aspects of the design. However, they do reveal for the first time the set of two-wheel landing gear.
Until now, only this single piece of official concept art of the aircraft B-21 Raider existed
‘We are designing the B-21 Raider to replace our ageing bombers as a long-range, highly-survivable aircraft capable of carrying mixed conventional and nuclear payloads, to strike any target worldwide,’ said Chief of Staff of the Air Force general David L. Goldfein.
Stealth aircraft such as the B-21 are designed to be invisible to detection technologies such as radar signals and infrared and visible light.
Design features, such as shape and coating, can help stealth aircraft deflect detection signals away from the opponent’s radar equipment.
The bomber is expected to do more than just drop bombs, however, and will eventually become the centrepiece of the US’s nuclear air fleet, replacing B-52 and B-1 bombers.
High-power cameras, increased processing power and antennas embedded into the outer surface will turn the B-21 into a ‘versatile spy plane and airborne command centre’, according to Defense One.
B-21 Raider may even be ‘capable of manned or unmanned operations’, according to US Air Force documents viewed by The Drive, meaning it may not even require a pilot.
