B-21 Raider: USA Speeds Up Production of New Strategic Bomber

The United States is speeding up production of the B-21 Raider, its newest sixth-generation strategic bomber.

The manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, announced this on its official website.

The first production aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to Ellsworth Air Force Base in 2027.

The company noted that the production ramp-up is being carried out in coordination with the U.S. Air Force to more quickly deliver new combat capabilities to the American military.

Currently, several pre-production B-21 Raider aircraft are undergoing ground and flight testing, demonstrating performance that exceeds expectations based on digital modeling.

Northrop Grumman notes that it has invested more than $5 billion in digital engineering and the program’s production infrastructure.

This has enabled a nearly 50% reduction in software certification time and improved the efficiency of manufacturing processes.

Final assembly of the aircraft takes place at the company’s facility in Palmdale.

The company received a contract for the first pre-production batch of advanced B-21 Raider stealth bombers at the end of 2023. It is currently known that the United States Air Force plans to acquire at least 100 aircraft. They are intended to replace their predecessors – the B-2 Spirit and the B-1 Lancer.

B-21 Raider

The B-21 is one of three priority projects of the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command, alongside the F-35A Lightning IIfighter jet and the KC-46 Pegasus multirole tanker aircraft.

The Raider is a low-observable bomber capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons. It is designed to operate in high-threat environments. The B-21 is expected to play a decisive role in ensuring the future capabilities of U.S. air power.

The first pre-production B-21 took to the air in November 2023. The aircraft flew from the manufacturing plant to Edwards Air Force Base, where flight and other tests of the latest sixth-generation American bomber are being conducted.