The Pentagon plans to purchase at least 100 examples of this strategic bomber, designed to “evolve” through technological innovations.
The U.S. Army’s new jewel, the B-21 “Raider” bomber, was unveiled in Palmdale, California at one of its manufacturer’s Northrop Grumman sites in an expertly choreographed ceremony opened by the American anthem.
With lots of spotlights and dramatic music, the industrialist lifted the veil on this new high-tech aircraft, of which the Pentagon wants to buy at least 100 copies at almost 700 million dollars each.
“The B-21 ‘Raider’ is the best strategic bomber in more than three decades,” said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. A sign, he says, that the United States continues to show “ingenuity and innovation.”
Read alsoThe French Armed Forces Minister meets his American counterpart at the Pentagon
The American army does not want to reveal too much information about the capabilities of the B-21, many of which technical characteristics remain classified. But this new model, which must gradually replace the B-1 and B-2 bombers, whose first launches date back to the Cold War, should show significant advances compared to the existing fleet.
Integrate new weapons that do not exist yet
The new plane has “a range that no other long-range bomber can match,” said Lloyd Austin, also asserting that the plane is one of the most durable bombers ever built. Like the US military’s latest designs, including the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, the B-21 will be camouflaged. “Even the most sophisticated air defense systems will have trouble spotting the B-21 in the sky,” Austin said, explaining that the aircraft benefits from 50 years of American expertise in the field.
The plane also has an “open architecture” that should allow “new weapons that haven’t been invented yet” to be easily accommodated, he added. The bomber was “designed for further development,” commented Amy Nelson, an expert at the Brookings Institution, an American think tank based in Washington. In particular, its “open architecture” allows “the future integration of software” capable of improving its performance, especially its autonomy, “so that the aircraft does not quickly become obsolete”.
Fly with no crew on board
“The B-21 is much more sophisticated than its predecessors, really modern,” she added. Unlike the B-2 bomber, the aircraft has a “dual ability”: it can strike with both nuclear missiles and conventional weapons. But it can also “launch long-range and short-range missiles.”
This state-of-the-art bomber can also fly without a crew on board, a feature that was not mentioned when it was presented at Palmdale. An Air Force spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that the plane “is planning this possibility but no decision has been made to fly unmanned.” The first flight of the B-21, the first six of which Northrop Grumman is already working on, is scheduled for 2023.
His nickname “Raider” is inspired by the 1942 Tokyo Air Raid led by Colonel James Doolittle, the first American attack on Japanese soil during World War II, in retaliation for Japanese planes attacking the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii a year earlier .
The B-21 is set to become a central part of America’s “nuclear triad,” consisting of missiles and bombs that can be launched from land, sea, or air. “The bomber fleet allows the United States flexibility in nuclear deterrence and provides a guarantee in case of problems with the other pillars” of this task force, concludes expert Amy Nelson.
SEE ALSO – War in Ukraine: The French Rafales are the “air police”