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The United States on Friday unveiled the B-21 Raider, a high-tech stealth bomber that can carry nuclear and conventional weapons and is designed to be able to fly without a crew on board.<\/p>\n
The slickly choreographed ceremony at B-21 manufacturer Northrop Grumman\u2019s facility in Palmdale, California opened with the US national anthem as older bombers roared over a crowd that included top US officials.<\/p>\n
Dramatic music played and lights flashed as the doors of a hanger holding the new aircraft slowly opened, and the crowd applauded as the cloth covering it was pulled away to reveal a sleek grey bomber that is on track to cost nearly $700 million per plane.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe B-21 Raider is the first strategic bomber in more than three decades. It is a testament to America\u2019s enduring advantages in ingenuity and innovation,\u201d US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in remarks at the ceremony.<\/p>\n
Many specifics of the aircraft are being kept under wraps, but the plane will offer significant advances over existing bombers in the US fleet, which Austin highlighted in his remarks.<\/p>\n
He hailed its range \u2014 \u201cno other long-range bomber can match its efficiency\u201d \u2014 and its durability, saying it is \u201cdesigned to be the most maintainable bomber ever built.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like the F-22 and F-35 warplanes, the B-21 features stealth technology, which minimizes an aircraft\u2019s signature through both its shape and the materials it is constructed from, making it harder for adversaries to detect.<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty years of advances in low-observable technology have gone into this aircraft,\u201d Austin said. \u201cEven the most sophisticated air defense systems will struggle to detect the B-21 in the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plane is also built with an \u201copen system architecture,\u201d which allows for the incorporation of \u201cnew weapons that haven\u2019t even been invented yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Amy Nelson, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, told AFP ahead of the unveiling that the B-21 is \u201cdesigned to evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018American air power\u2019<\/strong> \u201cThe B-21 is much fancier than its predecessors \u2014 truly modern. Not only is it dual-capable (unlike the B-2), which means it can launch nuclear or conventionally armed missiles, it can launch long- and short-range missiles,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n Not mentioned during the ceremony was the plane\u2019s potential for uncrewed flight. US Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek told AFP the aircraft is \u201cprovisioned for the possibility, but there has been no decision to fly without a crew.\u201d<\/p>\n The first flight by a B-21 \u2014 \u201cthe backbone of our future bomber force\u201d \u2014 is expected to take place next year, and the Air Force plans to buy at least 100 of the aircraft, Stefanek said.<\/p>\n Northrop Grumman said six of the planes are currently in different stages of assembly and testing at its facility in Palmdale.<\/p>\n The bomber will be a key part of the US \u201cnuclear triad,\u201d which consists of weapons that can be launched from the land, air and sea.<\/p>\n \u201cFor nuclear deterrence, the bomber fleet provide flexibility to US nuclear posture, and redundance should any of the other legs fail,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n The \u201cRaider\u201d portion of the aircraft\u2019s name honors the 1942 US bomber raid on Tokyo led by then-lieutenant colonel James Doolittle \u2014 the first American strike on Japan\u2019s homeland following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the previous year.<\/p>\n \u201cOn a cold and rainy April morning, four months after Pearl Harbor, 16 US Army bomber planes took off from an aircraft carrier in the Pacific,\u201d Austin said.<\/p>\n They \u201cflew more than 650 miles to strike distant enemy targets, and the Doolittle Raiders, as they came to be known, showed the strength and the reach of American air power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThe \u2018open architecture\u2019 allows for the future integration of improved software (including for autonomy) so the aircraft doesn\u2019t become obsolete as quickly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n