After years of secrecy, the B-21 Raider emerged from its Palmdale hangar Friday morning and took its first flight, hovering via the sky and giving airplane lovers, contractor staff and the general public its first glimpse of the futuristic-looking bomber in air.
The B-21 bomber, which is being constructed by Northrop Grumman Corp., took off from the secretive Air Power Plant 42 in Palmdale earlier than heading north towards Edwards Air Power Base, mentioned Matt Hartman, a photographer who was out in Palmdale in hopes of taking pictures of the airplane after he’d heard rumors {that a} flight may be imminent.
About 80 individuals crowded close to the Palmdale Regional Airport to attempt to see the primary flight with their very own eyes. As soon as the bomber flew by, “you may hear a pin drop,” Hartman mentioned.
The U.S. Air Power confirmed that the B-21 is in flight testing, and known as it a “crucial step” within the bomber’s check program. Flight testing consists of not simply flying operations but in addition floor and taxiing assessments. Edwards Air Power Base is answerable for testing and analysis for the B-21.
The flight check program “strikes us one other step nearer to reaching operational functionality,” Northrop Grumman mentioned in an announcement Friday. In December, Northrop Grumman unveiled the B-21 bomber for the primary time, though that reveal solely showcased the entrance of the plane. Technical particulars of the airplane have to this point been extremely categorised.
The Air Power plans to purchase no less than 100 B-21 stealth bombers by the mid-2030s for about $80 billion. Already, six B-21 bombers are in manufacturing, the Air Power mentioned. The brand new planes will ultimately exchange the getting old B-1 and B-2 bomber fleets.
Though the B-21’s flying-wing form seems just like that of the B-2, it has improved stealth expertise and can be extra supportable and maintainable than its predecessor, which has notoriously excessive upkeep prices.
The bomber is designed to fly each crewed and uncrewed missions, reflecting technological updates that weren’t accessible when the B-2 was constructed within the Nineteen Eighties.
The Air Power plans to get its first few B-21 bombers, that are designed to fly long-range missions whereas evading radar detection, by the mid-2020s. The bomber is a part of the U.S. navy’s effort to replace its nuclear triad, which incorporates warheads, submarines and missiles, as world rivals resembling China additionally enhance their weapons expertise.
This system has boosted aerospace employment within the Antelope Valley, lengthy recognized for its aerospace manufacturing jobs. In December, greater than 7,000 individuals have been employed at Northrop Grumman’s Antelope Valley services, which is double the quantity there in 2015 when the corporate received the bomber contract.
The B-21 Raider stealth bomber is unveiled at Northrop Grumman, Dec. 2, 2022, in Palmdale, Calif. The B-21 Raider has taken its first flight, shifting the futuristic warplane nearer to changing into the nation’s subsequent nuclear weapons stealth bomber.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Related Press)
