WASHINGTON — The B-21 Raider stealth bomber is carrying out test flights at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the U.S. Air Force has confirmed.
The B-21 flew on Wednesday, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in an email. It was not the primary time the Northrop Grumman-made bomber flew since its arrival at Edwards in November 2023, but Stefanek declined to say what number of flights it has taken or provide other details, citing operational security reasons.
“Flight testing is a critical step within the test campaign managed by the Air Force Test Center and 412th Test Wing’s B-21 combined test force to supply survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to discourage aggression and strategic attacks against the US, allies and partners,” Stefanek said.
While the B-21 was unveiled with much fanfare in a December 2022 rollout at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, the service and Northrop Grumman have since change into more reticent about latest developments within the highly classified bomber’s evolution. The War Zone first reported the B-21′s Jan. 17 flight.
Photographs of the B-21 have shown its nickname Cerberus — the multi-headed hound that guards the gates of Hades in Greek mythology — stenciled on its landing gear door.
After its Nov. 10 flight to Edwards, the B-21 moved into the flight testing phase, which incorporates taxiing, ground tests and flying operations.
Northrop Grumman has built or is within the technique of constructing no less than six test B-21s, including this primary bomber. The B-21 program is now within the engineering and manufacturing development phase, and the test aircraft are production-representative platforms, meaning they’re being built on the identical line with the identical tools, technicians and processes as production bombers.
Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota is to be the primary base to receive a Raider, scheduled for delivery within the mid-2020s.
The Air Force plans to have a fleet of no less than 100 B-21s, which is able to replace the aging B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers as they retire within the 2030s. The B-21 is supposed to conduct penetrating deep-strike missions against adversaries with advanced radars and air defense systems. The aircraft can carry each conventional and nuclear weapons.
Each B-21 is anticipated to have a mean procurement cost of $692 million, and this system has a price tag of $203 billion over 30 years.
Test pilots told reporters on the B-21′s December 2022 rollout that a flight test program just like the one planned for the B-21 will probably be a “massive undertaking.”
Northrop Grumman B-21 test pilot Chris Moss said on the time that pilots will probably be watching to make sure the Raider flies as expected, experience the way it feels and make sure its systems work as intended. The bomber will record data that’s transmitted to the bottom for evaluation, he added.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.