Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber: In 2015, Northrup Grumman was awarded the B-21 Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract for the B-21 Raider advanced strategic bomber. The Air Force has publicly reported it intends to purchase at least 100 aircraft that it says will form the backbone of the service’s bomber force, with an average unit procurement cost of $639 million each.
Earlier this year, the Air Force announced the B-21 Raider will be headed to Edwards Air Force Base, Edwards, CA, where the 420th Flight Test Squadron will plan, test, analyze, and report all ground and flight testing.
Speaking at the Air Force Association’s Air Space Cyber Conference, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall revealed: “As I speak there are now [five] test aircraft being manufactured on the B-21 production line,” at the Palmdale Air Force Plant 42 (PMD). As of the writing of this article, this is the most current, tangible information we have on the B-21 raider production status.
During my research for this article, this author reached out to a Facebook social media group, a group I have enjoyed membership at for years and had made some close connections, whose members routinely shared “inside” information about PMD and associated points of interest: “Palmdale AF Plant 42 (PMD) and BJ’s Corner”. I posted a modest group question: “If anybody here has any information on B-21 Raider production at Palmdale please PM me”. I was quickly, inexplicably, removed from the group. Members from the group did not return any queries regarding this. This, in itself, makes the B-21 Raider story that much more intriguing. Maybe a sensitive nerve was struck on one of the larger “black projects” in US history, who knows, but this is typical behavior displayed by those close to government who have things to hide.
The USAF has reported that the first operational B-21 Raider unit will be located at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. Additional B-21 deployments will be heading to Whiteman AFB, Knobnoster, MO, and Dyess AFB, Abilene, TX. I eagerly look forward to seeing one for the first time.
This is awesome News, but what aircraft is that you have flying wit the 21, she sure is no 22?
It is my rendition (based on data supplied by Lockheed Martin) of Lockheed’s proposed 6th Generation fighter. You can see a higher resolution image here