The US Air Force revealed the first image of its new state-of-the-art stealth bomber, the B-21, today – not a photo but an artistic rendering of the high-tech, next gen stealth bomber.
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Deborah Lee James made the announcement at the Air Warfare Symposium now underway in Orlando, Florida.
John Michael Loh, a retired four-star U.S. Air Force general, has urged the Air Force to name Northrop’s suppliers to shore up support in Congress, and avoid a re-run of the B-2 bomber program, which was scaled back from 132 planes to just 21, which drove the price of each plane sharply higher.
Long term, the idea is for these planes to replace Air Force B-52 bombers, which have been flying for more than half a century – and eventually the B-1 bombers, when they retire sometime in the 2040s.
“This aircraft represents the future for our Airmen, and (their) voice is important to this process”, James said.
At first glance, the drawing seems basic.
‘The Airman who submits the selected name will help me announce it at the (Air Force Association) conference this fall’.
There are now no existing B-21 prototypes, although the aircraft does bear a striking resemblance to the old B-2 Spirit bomber that Northrop Grumman produced between 1987 and 2000. The goal was to embrace innovation to reduce the overall development cost of the bomber.
Names also count. Right now the techno-loaded death machine is referred to as “B-21”, which is decidedly unsexy.
James said the design similarities are due to “the use of existing and mature technology”. The service plans to field the new bomber in the mid-2020s.
“If we choose not to pursue our protest further in the interest of our Air Force customer and the war fighter, or otherwise, we will inform the Air Force and other stakeholders of the decision first”.
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While 1990 dollars are not mid-2020 dollars-the time frame when the first B-21s are supposed to be ready for duty-a little math adds up the overall cost of the LRS-B to exceed that of the B-2 program even if the aircraft are delivered at the $511 million unit cost Northrop estimated in its bid.
