by Kris Osborn, Warrior
(Washington DC) The Air Force’s B-21 program is progressing quickly and successfully, and while little is publicly known about its technologies, there is a high measure of widespread confidence among senior Pentagon leaders that the Raider will introduce a new era in stealth bombing attack.
The arrival of the paradigm-changing platform has some wondering if the B-21 should be sold to US allies? Or does the B-21s exquisite technologies require that the platform remain like the F-22 as “US only” and not available for export.
There are many variables to consider and, essentially, strong arguments for either position. On the advantage side, adding B-21 allied countries could help Northrop “scale” production, increase efficiency and lower costs. It might streamline manufacturing to enable Northrop to add more aircraft should Pentagon requests increase. There is already discussion about increasing the B-21 fleet size number well beyond current plans for 100 aircraft, so expanding the fleet is much easier and more realistic in the event that production of the aircraft is massively scaled. Could Northrop sufficiently “flex” to accomplish this? Certainly seems realistic.
More B-21s
Adding B-21s to the anticipated US fleet size makes great sense for a number of reasons, as the Air Force has been struggling with a bomber deficit for many years. Combatant Commander requests for bombers continue to massively exceed available supply, and there is little question that an expansive force of B-21s would be of critical necessity in any kind of great power warfare
Apart from pure production capacity and fleet size considerations, the strongest argument for expanding the B-21 to allied countries seems to be tactical and strategic. While the B-21 is said to be the stealthiest, most lethal bomber ever to exist, it will also function to a large degree as an aerial command and control “node” performing critical sensing, data analysis and transmission across a multi-domain force. Not only will the B-21 control drones from the sky to conduct forward surveillance, test enemy air defenses and deliver strikes when directed by a human, but it will introduce paradigm-changing levels of sensing, computing and AI-enabled data analysis. What this means is that the B-21 will operate like a flying command and control center, potentially bringing new, unparalleled data transmission, networking and communications across multiple domains.
B-21 Flying Command Center
This introduces a massive and interesting multinational networking possibility. This opens up the possibility of new Concepts of Operation, as a multi-national group of B-21s could operate across a vast theater of war to share data, control drones, transmit targeting and intelligence information and optimize the speed, method and effectiveness of attack. As a bomber, the B-21 is stealthier, higher altitude and quite different from an F-35, there is potentially an alignment in terms of concepts of operation. The number of countries now operating the F-35 has exploded in recent years, leading some to refer to it as the aircraft for the free world; it is specially engineered with a common, multinational data link called Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) which enables all F-35s from all member nations to securely and quickly share data across expansive air-combat formations. This networking capability could, in theory, be applied to a multinational force of allied B-21s uniquely positioned to share data, network with one another and coordinate bombing attacks.
Dangerous to sell?
The argument against selling the B-21 is clear and simple, as it simply pertains to the need to safeguard some of the most advanced and unique technologies the world has ever seen. There is always the unlikely possibility that allies of today may not be allies in 20 or 30 years, so selling a platform with this ability could arguably introduce a measure of long-term risk. There is always a possibility that the geopolitical landscape could change in some unpredictable ways, something which could place the US at risk should an allied B-21 member nation no longer be an ally for some reason. To safeguard against this contingency, allies are typically given scaled back “export variants” of top-level US military platforms to protect American superiority, yet even export variants of a platform such as the B-21 would be extremely dangerous if used against the US. It may be that its technologies are simply too advanced, too unique and too paradigm-changing in the realm of stealth and bombing that it simply should not be sold or shared in any capacity.
The mysterious, dark and secretive B-21 program inspires the imagination with a new realm of technological possibility, as it is widely anticipated to be the stealthiest platform the world has ever seen. The platform will control drones, operate as a sensor “node” in the sky performing command and control and networking ….all while holding any target at risk, senior Air Force weapons developers say, anywhere in the world, at any time.
B-21 Stealth
The B-21 Raider does have a B-2-like horizontal flying wing design blending wing and body together to elude enemy ground radar, yet the B-21 appears even stealthier, sleeker and more elusive than the larger B-2. The inlets of the B-21 are smoothly blended into the fuselage and its configuration appears stealthier and smaller than the B-2. A slightly smaller frame does not necessarily mean it will carry less payload than a B-2, rather it could mean materials, space and internal configuration have been optimized for a new level of performance.
Clearly many of its stealth properties and advanced technologies will not be available for public discussion given the secret nature of the program, yet a side photo from 2024 does offer a previously unprecedented side-view of the new aircraft. A quick look at the external configuration would seem to suggest that indeed the aircraft may contain massive “leaps-forward” in the realm of stealth technology.
A key element of the aircraft might jump out at observers, as its “inlets” are smoothly woven into the rounded fuselage-wing-body structure in a way that is flatter, more horizontal, less angular and more seamless than its B-2 predecessor. Simply put it is less vertical and flatter in its integration with the body of the aircraft, something of great significance because any kind of protruding or vertical structure, however rounded or “blended” into the fuselage of the aircraft, introduces the prospect of an increased radar signature. Vertical structures and sharp angles, in pure aerodynamic terms, create shapes, angles and contours electromagnetic radar “pings” are able to bounce off and generate a return rendering. A completely flat aircraft, by contrast, offers few if any protruding structures or angles off of which radar pings traveling at the speed of light can bounce off. Radar and air defense systems, of course, generate a picture or rendering of a threat object by virtue of bouncing electromagnetic signals off of a structure and analyzing the return, thus creating a rendering or image of some kind of the size, shape or even speed of the object. This is why the F-35 and F-22, while quite stealthy and believed to be effective against many air defense systems, are ultimately less stealthy than a fully horizontal blended wing-body aircraft such as the B-2 or B-21.
This makes sense, as a B-21 is not designed to “dogfight” or vector in the air persay but instead actualize “broadband” stealth and “penetrate” defended enemy airspace without an enemy even knowing it is “there” at all. B-2 and B-21 bombers therefore, are said to present as a “bird” or small airborne animal to enemy radar, given the absence of detectable “shapes,” “structures,” and angles contained on the fuselage. Vertical structures, such as tails and fins for example, decrease stealth properties to some extent while simultaneously enabling maneuver, speed and air-to-air combat. At the same time, an ability to maneuver at high speeds and “vector” in the air are things which in and of themselves are stealth enhancing,radar signature reducing attributes, something capable of presenting challenges to ground based radar seeking to establish a “target lock” or “track” on a threat object.
The intent of broadband stealth is to be entirely “stealth,” meaning the aircraft can elude both lower-frequency “surveillance” radar able to detect something is “there,” and higher frequency engagement radar able to establish a track and lock on the target and actually “engage” and destroy the aircraft.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in 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
