Analysis: The B-21 Raider’s Critical Numbers Game
1/10/2023
By Stew Magnuson
The Air Force’s B-21 Raider is designed to prevail against robust air defenses, deliver precision weapons on targets deep in enemy territory and return its two-man crew safely home.
But a bigger challenge as the program moves forward is whether the program can prevail in the yearly Defense Department battles over funding, keep its costs down and deliver the 100 aircraft the Air Force says it needs to maintain its edge over adversaries.
Air Force and Northrop Grumman officials at the B-21 roll-out ceremony in Palmdale, California, gave an upbeat assessment of not only the program’s current costs, but how much funding it will require in the future.
Andrew Hunter, Air Force undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, told reporters that so far, the program is “tracking well” on cost and schedule.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2023/1/10/the-b-21-raiders-critical-numbers-game
