The B-21 Raider took its first test flight on Friday, moving the futuristic warplane closer to becoming the nation’s next nuclear weapons stealth bomber.
The Raider flew in Palmdale, California, where it has been under testing and development by Northrop Grumman.
The Air Force is planning to construct 100 of the warplanes, which have a flying wing shape very like their predecessor the B-2 Spirit but will incorporate advanced materials, propulsion and stealth technology to make them more survivable in a future conflict. The plane is planned to be produced in variants with and without pilots.
“The B-21 Raider is in flight testing,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said.
Such testing is a critical step within the campaign to supply “survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to discourage aggression and strategic attacks against the USA, allies, and partners,” Stefanek said.
The B-21 Raider is the primary recent American bomber aircraft in greater than 30 years, and almost every aspect of this system is classed. Each Northrop Grumman and the Air Force have tried to guard this system’s details to stop China from having access to the weapon’s technology and constructing the same version, because it has with other U.S. advanced weapons systems just like the F-35 joint strike fighter.
The B-21 is an element of the Pentagon’s efforts to modernize all three legs of its nuclear triad, which incorporates silo-launched nuclear ballistic missiles and submarine-launched warheads, because it invests in recent weapons to satisfy China’s rapid military modernization.
Northrop Grumman Corp. is predicated in Falls Church, Virginia.
Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press. She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group.