The United States' newest nuclear stealth bomber is making its public debut after years of secret development
facility in Palmdale, California, only artists' renderings of the warplane have been released. Those few images reveal that the Raider resembles the black nuclear stealth bomber it will eventually replace, the B-2 Spirit., which includes silo-launched nuclear ballistic missiles and submarine-launched warheads, as it shifts from the counterterrorism campaigns of recent decades to meet China's rapid military modernization.
“The way it operates internally is extremely advanced compared to the B-2, because the technology has evolved so much in terms of the computing capability that we can now embed in the software of the B-21,” Warden said. Six B-21 Raiders are in production; The Air Force plans to build 100 that can deploy either nuclear weapons or conventional bombs and can be used with or without a human crew. Both the Air Force and Northrop also point to the Raider’s relatively quick development: The bomber went from contract award to debut in seven years. Other new fighter and ship programs have taken decades.
The B-2 was also envisioned to be a fleet of more than 100 aircraft, but the Air Force ultimately built only 21 of them, due to cost overruns and a changed security environment after the Soviet Union fell.on any given day due to the significant maintenance needs of the aging bomber, said Todd Harrison, an aerospace specialist and managing director at Metrea Strategic Insights.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Pentagon Office to Support Tech Investment Critical for National SecurityThe Pentagon has established a unit to lure private funding for technology deemed critical to national security, citing concern over China's military advances
Read more »
Pentagon Fails Another Audit, Yet Congress Poised to Approve $847 Billion Budget'This isn't using our taxpayer dollars wisely,' said the National Priorities Project. 'It's robbing programs that we need, like the discontinued child tax credit that cut child poverty by half.'
Read more »
Pentagon eyes major expansion of Ukraine military trainingTop Pentagon officials are weighing a major expansion in training for the Ukrainian military, a move that could significantly enhance its ability to evict Russian forces from occupied areas even as it deepens U.S. involvement in the war.
Read more »
Americans view military as overly politicized; half the country concerned the Pentagon is too 'woke'Sixty-two percent of respondents to a survey from the Reagan National Defense Forum expressed concern over this politicization — a feeling shared by Republicans and Democrats.
Read more »