U.S. Air Force’s B-21 ‘RAIDER’: On Friday, November 10, the US Air Force’s newest nuclear stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, had its first test flight.
Northrop Grumman, an aerospace and military corporation, has been testing and developing the stealth bomber, which made its maiden flight in Palmdale, California.
Built with cutting-edge materials, propulsion, and stealth technologies, the warplane is an improvement over the outdated B-2 Spirit, increasing its survivability in a future fight. However, upon closer inspection, it is impossible to ignore the similarities between the B-2 Spirit and the B-21’s wing shapes.
According to a CBS story, the US Air Force intends to build 100 B-21 Raider aircraft, including both manned and unmanned versions. Notably, the B-21 is the first brand-new bomber produced for the US Air Force in more than 30 years.
Regarding the first test flight, US Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek stated in a statement that “survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to deter aggression and strategic attacks against the United States, allies, and partners” are critical components of the flight testing phase.
U.S. Air Force’s B-21 ‘RAIDER’
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin asserted that no other bomber aircraft could equal the B-21 nuclear stealth bomber’s range when it was originally shown in December 2022.
“To hold any target at danger, it won’t require logistical support or an in-theater base of operations. This aeroplane is the result of fifty years of low-observable technical advancements. “A B-21 in the sky will be difficult for even the most advanced air defence systems to identify,” Austin boasted, highlighting the new generation bomber warplane’s stealth.
Regarding the designation, CBS stated that “Raider” is a reference to the Doolittle Raiders, who conducted a surprise strike during World War II, and that the US Air Force selected the name “B-21 Raider” since it is the first modern bomber of the twenty-first century.
According to CBS, the Pentagon is reportedly working to update its “nuclear triad,” which consists of nuclear ballistic missiles launched from silos and warheads launched from submarines. This includes the newest B-21 Raider aircraft. The publication added that as China quickly advances in the area of military modernization, the Pentagon is attempting in vain to level the playing field.
Nearly every detail of the B-21 project and its test flight, according to CBS, is classified. The US Air Force and aerospace and defence company Northrop Grumman are working to prevent China from obtaining the weapon’s technology and creating a replica, something the nation has already done.
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The German weekly magazine Der Spiegel received a plethora of documents from U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden back in 2015. These documents publicly confirmed, for the first time, that Chinese hackers had accessed top secret information on the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter jet. This information was first reported by The Diplomat in 2015.
The Diplomat quoted specialists who assert that the Chinese J-31 and Chengdu J-20 fighter jets were partially inspired by the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II, which at the time was the most sophisticated fighter jet in the world.
