“AMERICAN AIR POWER”
Amy Nelson, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think-tank, told AFP ahead of the unveiling that the B-21 is “designed to evolve”.
“The ‘open architecture’ allows for the future integration of improved software (including for autonomy) so the aircraft doesn’t become obsolete as quickly,” she said.
“The B-21 is much fancier than its predecessors – 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,” Nelson said.
Not mentioned during the ceremony was the plane’s potential for uncrewed flight. US Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek told AFP that the aircraft is “provisioned for the possibility, but there has been no decision to fly without a crew”.
The first flight by a B-21 – “the backbone of our future bomber force” – is expected to take place next year, and the Air Force plans to buy at least 100 of the aircraft, Stefanek said.
Northrop Grumman said that six of the planes are currently in different stages of assembly and testing at its facility in Palmdale.
The bomber will be a key part of the US “nuclear triad”, which consists of weapons that can be launched from the land, air and sea.
“For nuclear deterrence, the bomber fleet provides flexibility to US nuclear posture, and redundance should any of the other legs fail,” Nelson said.
The “Raider” portion of the aircraft’s name honours the 1942 US bomber raid on Tokyo led by then lieutenant colonel James Doolittle – the first American strike on Japan’s homeland following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the previous year.
“On 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,” Austin said.
They “flew 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”, he said.
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