Air Force Builds 6 B-21 New Stealth Bombers, Preps Rollout & First Flight

Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington, D.C.) The highly secretive and much anticipated new Air Force B-21 stealth bomber will blast onto the scene in a formal roll out in December of this year, marking a much anticipated milestone when it comes to the future of war.

As for what exactly can be said about the B-21 .. the answer is “nothing.” The program has been largely secret or completely “black” since its inception, for understandable reasons. Given the importance and sensitivity of the missions it will need to perform, certainly the Air Force does not want any adversary to learn specifics related to its design or technology. That being said, senior Air Force leaders do say there are ongoing deliberations with Congress regarding what, if anything, can be made unclassified to enable Congressional oversight and budgeting or production decisions. It may be possible to open up a little without compromising security in any way, as that is something now being analyzed.

Regardless, one thing is discussed in a general sense, and that is that the B-21 likely contains paradigm-changing or “breakthrough” levels of stealth technology and computing. As far back as several years ago, former Military Deputy for Air Force Acquisition, former Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, told Warrior that the B-21 will be able to hold “any target” at risk “anywhere” in the world. Since that time, senior Air Force leaders have echoed a similar level of confidence in the platform’s technology and anticipated future performance. The service has also highly praised B-21 producer and designer Northrop Grumman for pioneering cutting edge technologies and ability to remain on cost and schedule with the new bomber.

Interestingly, Northrop Grumman did issue a general statement about ongoing work and procedural components related to preparing the stealth bomber for its roll out later this year and first flight in 2023.

“As the B-21 continues its ground test phase, the team will power up the aircraft, test its subsystems, and apply coatings and paint. The next steps will include carrying out engine runs as well as low-speed and high-speed taxi tests, and then on to first flight,” a Northrop Grumman statement said.

The Northrop Grumman statement also specifies that developers made an impactful shift to the cloud with the B-21s ground systems.