By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The emerging B-21 is rapidly progressing and expected to make history and “take-to-the-sky” before the end of the year, a development likely to usher in a new, paradigm-changing era in stealth air attack.
Preparations, conceptual development and testing in preparation for the first flight have been underway for quite some time at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Northrop data confirmed months ago that as many as six B-21s have already been built.
While most of the detail regarding B-21 technologies have remained “black” for obvious security reasons, senior Air Force leaders have said a number of key things related to its mission scope. The service plans to build a lower-cost “unmanned” variant of the B-21 to leverage the most cutting edge technologies enabling greater autonomy. This lowers risk and also potentially widens the operational area in which a B-21 can operate as an unmanned platform can fly in extremely high-risk environments. The manned B-21 aircraft will also likely control “loyal wingman” nearby unmanned platforms from the cockpit as well as operate as a next-generation aerial “sensor node” able to acquire, process and transmit time sensitive targeting and combat data across a multi-domain force in real time.
The first flight timing for later this year, announced several times by both Northrop Grumman and the Air Force, has taken another key step forward with the service’s recent completion of a “power-on” test, cited in Air Force Magazine.
Some of the B-21s mission scope was referenced in a general way by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last December at the formal unveiling of the first B-21.
“You know, the B-21 looks imposing. But what’s under the frame and the space-age coatings is even more impressive,” Austin told an audience.
Austin’s remarks were likely quite “general” by design, given that the cutting edge program is almost entirely “black,” meaning not available to the public for obvious security reasons. However, Austin’s remarks did offer a critical window into key areas of emphasis for the new bomber, which is expected to start arriving in coming years. Members of Congress, think tanks and even some Air Force senior leaders have in recent years suggested the possibility that perhaps the planned fleet size for the B-21 should be much larger than the planned 100 planes and possibly double up to more than 225. Future budgets may adjust the service’s plans for the fleet, yet the expected program plan is to acquire as many as 100, the first several of which are already well along and under construction and slated to take to the sky in coming months.
The entire concept of the B-21’s broadband stealth is aimed at operating with an ability to elude both lower-frequency “surveillance” radar able to discern if an aircraft is “there,” as well as high frequency “engagement” radar able to actually develop a target track and fire upon an aircraft. The B-21 is engineered to appear like a “bird” to enemy radar and prevent an adversary from knowing the aircraft is even there.
While most of the production and technological details regarding the B-21 are not available for obvious security reasons, there is widespread discussion among senior Air Force leaders about how the new platform incorporates breakthrough, paradigm-changing levels of stealth technology. Given the rapid technological advances in Russian and Chinese air defenses, this is of critical importance. Russian media claims its new S-400 and S-500 Surface-to-Air-Missiles can track and shoot down even “stealth” platforms, an ambitious claim which does not seem to have been verified or corroborated in any substantial way. However, new Russian-built air defenses are networked to one another with much faster computer processing, able to see or detect targets at much greater ranges, and capable of operating on a broader range of frequencies. But, this does not mean that these systems can succeed in “hitting” or engaging a stealth bomber, especially one as advanced as the B-21. A given radar or air defense system may successfully determine that something is “there” or in a general area of operations using low-frequency surveillance radar. However, that does not mean the system can establish a target track on a moving stealth bomber and “destroy” a stealthy platform. Such capabilities require a much greater precision, track loop fire control and image fidelity to accomplish, and it appears there are likely many “undisclosed” stealth properties built into the B-21.
Looking at its external configuration, the fuselage is a rounded, blended wing-body shape with no “visible” exhaust areas. Unlike a B-2 which has a few outlets, the B-21 does not appear to have any. This might suggest that innovators have discovered a new way to dissipate heat from the engine or regulate the thermal signature emitting from behind the aircraft. This innovation is highly significant, as a critical aim of stealth technology is to ensure that the airplane and its surrounding airflow remain as close to the same temperature as the surrounding atmosphere as possible to reduce any detectable heat differential by an enemy’s thermal sensors.
In his remarks last December, Austin also reference the expectation that that the B-21 will incorporate a new generation of data processing, sensing, weapons employment and AI-empowered computing. Several years ago, former Air Force Acquisition Executive William Roper published some significant comments about the B-21s progress regarding software and key elements of mission command, saying that developers completed an essential software-empowered process intended to bring greater levels of information processing, data management and computerized autonomy.
Through virtualization and software-hardware synergy, it seems conceivable that B-21 sensors, computers and electronics could better scale, deploy and streamline procedural functions such as checking avionics specifics, measuring altitude and speed and integrating otherwise disparate pools of sensor information. In effect, it means war-sensitive sensor, targeting and navigational data will be managed and organized through increased computer automation. This will allow pilots to make faster and more informed combat decisions.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and
on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
