Five B-21 Raider Stealth Bombers Are Now In Final Assembly
The fact that three more B-21s are now being assembled is a major indication of how fast the high-stakes bomber program is progressing.
By Thomas Newdick and Tyler Rogoway September 20, 2021
The War Zone
The U.S. Air Force now has no fewer than five examples of its secretive Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber in a process of final assembly. That’s three more airframes than we knew about before today and further indication that the new flying-wing bomber is making significant progress, albeit well away from the public gaze.
Speaking today during the Air Force Association’s Air, Space, & Cyber Conference, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall confirmed that five Raiders were now taking shape at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. These aircraft are part of the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) batch, funded under the Long-Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) contract.
We still do not known exactly how many aircraft the USAF expects to receive as part of the EMD phase of the program, a validation period that occurs before full rate production, but this is the most information about this particular aspect that has been released to date. The Air Force eventually hopes to take delivery of nearly 150 of the new stealth bombers. The program is said to be on budget and relatively close to being on schedule, overall. Six aircraft were also built during a similar phase of the B-2 Advanced Technology Bomber program, and these planes ended up being a major portion of the tiny fleet of 21 that ended up being built. There were additional ground test articles, as well.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42451/five-b-21-raider-stealth-bombers-are-now-in-final-assembly
