Sixth-Generation Aircraft: How the B-21 Raider Will Transform Air Warfare
Story by Philip Handleman • 5h ago
Editor's Note: This is part III of a multipart series looking at the origins and potential of the B-21 Raider. You can find part I here and part II here.
The things that look to be gamechangers in setting the B-21 apart are the secrets hidden within its inner sanctum. At the bomber’s December 2, 2022 rollout, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said as much: “You know, the B-21 looks imposing. But what’s under the frame and space-age coatings is even more impressive.”
The powers stemming from the B-21’s core – less the touchable gadgets and more the abstract capacities – involve the moving and digesting of raw data faster than humans can think. The B-21’s networking prowess is intimated to include the ability to securely share a wealth of gathered inputs via the electromagnetic spectrum while the bomber acts contemporaneously as a bomb delivery platform, communications relay node and command-and-control manager.
The B-21’s advances stand to transform the nature of air warfare and could alter perceptions of the bomber from a mere bomb-dropper to a multifaceted atmospheric battle-star that leapfrogs the enemy’s decision-making through lightning-quick processing and sharing of the information flow, giving new meaning to the old adage that knowledge is power.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/sixth-generation-aircraft-how-the-b-21-raider-will-transform-air-warfare/ar-AA18haMh?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=27ab0473be484b48a01a06147e456dff&ei=13
