Northrop Grumman Corp. showed off its new B-21 “Raider” jet on Friday. It is the first of a new fleet of stealthy long-range nuclear bombers for the US Air Force.
During a dramatic ceremony at Northrop’s Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, the B-21 was revealed to the public for the first time.
The B-21 has the same “flying wing” shape as its predecessor, the B-2. It will be able to deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons all over the world thanks to its long-range and in-flight refuelling capabilities.
The planes were expected to cost about $550 million each in 2010 dollars, which is about $750 million when adjusted for inflation.
The Air Force planned to buy at least 100 of these planes to start replacing B-1 and B-2 bombers.
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Northrop won the contract to make the bomber in 2015 over a team made up of Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT). Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace, GKN (LON:GKN) Aerospace, BAE Systems (OTC:BAESF), and Spirit Aerosystems are some of the more than 400 suppliers in 40 states.
Northrop is calling the plane a sixth-generation plane because it can connect to other planes and make it easy to add new weapons to its system architecture.
Doug Young, sector vice president and general manager at Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Aeronautics Systems, told Reuters in an interview that the B-21 has more durable, stealth-enabling, low-observable surface materials that will need less maintenance and keep costs and downtime to a minimum.
The first video and photos of the new bomber were shown at the presentation. Before, only artists’ impressions were made public.
Six of the planes, which won’t fly for the first time until mid-2023, are in different stages of being put together. More than 8,000 people from Northrop Grumman, other companies, and the Air Force are working on the programme at the moment.