Northrop Grumman strike division VP Doug Young said: “With the capability to hold targets at risk anywhere in the world, this weapon system is critical to our national security.”
The Air Force is planning to build 100 of the warplanes, which have a flying wing shape much like their predecessor the B-2 Spirit but will incorporate advanced materials, propulsion and stealth technology to make them more survivable in a future conflict.
The plane is planned to be produced in variants with and without pilots.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said: “The B-21 Raider is in flight testing.
“Flight testing is a critical step in the test campaign managed by the Air Force Test Centre and 412th Test Wing’s B-21 Combined Test Force to provide survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to deter aggression and strategic attacks against the United States, allies, and partners.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said last year: “It can handle anything from gathering intel to battle management.”
Testing is a critical step in the campaign to provide “survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to deter aggression and strategic attacks against the United States, allies, and partners,” Stefanek said.
The B-21 Raider is the first new American bomber aircraft in more than 30 years, and almost every aspect of the program is classified.
Both Northrop Grumman and the Air Force have tried to protect the programme’s details to prevent China from gaining access to the weapon’s technology and building a similar version, as it has with other US advanced weapons systems like the F-35 joint strike fighter.
More details about the sensitive project could now start to emerge following its flight debut.
The unveiling of the new stealth bomber comes two weeks after the Pentagon confirmed it will be seeking congressional approval to fund the development of a new nuclear bomb.
The new model, designated as B61-13, is expected to be 24 times more powerful than the device dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
The DoD insisted the development is “reflective of a changing security environment.” They also added that the bombs will substitute older models rather than increase the US’s nuclear arsenal.
