LRS-B... The B-21

[henra]

Originally Posted by Asturias56

seems to sit pretty low - not much space to get a munitions trolley under there as portrayed.

The 'thick' area of the fuselage appears relatively wide (see the first picture in my last post). Maybe a wide and rather flat bomb bay?

[rattman]

Originally Posted by Asturias56

seems to sit pretty low - not much space to get a munitions trolley under there as portrayed.

probably angle if you look at the video, you can see a guy standing the rear and you can see the head and neck are obcured by the aircraft, so thats about 5 feet at least between belly and ground

[Liffy 1M]

Main gear seems to be just two wheels on each leg rather than the four on the B-2. Smaller and lighter aircraft, perhaps.

[Jhieminga]

Originally Posted by alf5071h

Hype, fact, fiction ?

https://www.northropgrumman.com/what...s-b-21-raider/

I like this one:

6. Open Architecture.To meet the evolving threat environment, the B-21 has been designed from day one for rapid upgradeability. Unlike earlier generation aircraft, the B-21 will not undergo block upgrades. New technology, capabilities and weapons will be seamlessly incorporated through agile software upgrades and built-in hardware flexibility. This will ensure the B-21 Raider can continuously meet the evolving threat head on for decades to come.

I guess that means that halfway through a bombing raid, or just when you're about to land, the system will suddenly restart and show a screen with 'Working on updates - 20% completed - Don't turn off your B-21 Raider'.

[8674planes]

Do we think the airframe that was rolled out was a mock up or genuine?

[gums]

Salute!.

Sure looks smaller to me than the B-2.

I worked on the B-2 loadout for JDAM and that thing has two humongous bays - imagine 80 MK-82 dumb bombs or 16 JDAM's/alcm's on the rotary launchers.

I suspect less conventional/dumb bombs so more room for gas.

Gums sends...

[BlankBox]

Does it have a Lavazza machine?

[tdracer]

What I'm hearing is smaller, but longer range than the B-2. Those two things don't normally go together, but perhaps this is the exception...

[tartare]

Not too worried about what it looks like.
Long as it can't be seen, and can put warheads on foreheads - that's good enough.

[ORAC]

Do we think the airframe that was rolled out was a mock up or genuine?

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2022...bomber-debuts/

….This B-21, number 001 and designated T1 for the first flight test aircraft, is one of six Raiders in various stages of construction at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. More will follow, though Jones would not say when construction on the seventh B-21 will likely begin.

The first B-21 has undergone ground tests in recent months, as well as final assembly and application of coatings and paint before its debut.

Its next major step will be its first flight to Edwards Air Force Base in California, expected to occur sometime in 2023. Northrop Grumman has said the date of that first flight will be based on the results of future additional ground tests. Those tests will include powering the Raider’s systems on and off, running its engines, performing taxiing test runs, and other integration tests.

Once the Raider is at Edwards, the Air Force will conduct further flight tests.

This first bomber is a production representative aircraft, essentially identical to the production aircraft that will eventually be produced by Northrop Grumman.

Jones said this differs from most new aircraft programs, which usually have their first flight conducted by a nonproduction-representative aircraft, leading to longer testing periods. He said using a production representative aircraft for the B-21′s flight tests is meant to speed up the process….

[West Coast]

The fellas who will conduct some of the jet’s testing.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...dUoMjd7TNEEKs4

[Tango and Cash]

Too early to place bets whether the B-52 will still be in service when the last B-21 is retired?

[Flugzeug A]

A quick Google reckons the USAF want at least 100 of them , “manned or unmanned”.
I assume the aircraft will be the same flightdeck-wise, or will it?
Can anyone enlighten me?

[Buster15]

Originally Posted by tartare

Not too worried about what it looks like.
Long as it can't be seen, and can put warheads on foreheads - that's good enough.

Can't be seen?
Are they claiming that.

[rattman]

Originally Posted by Flugzeug A

A quick Google reckons the USAF want at least 100 of them , “manned or unmanned”.
I assume the aircraft will be the same flightdeck-wise, or will it?
Can anyone enlighten me?

Unmanned has been scrapped, as to numbers officially still unknown, they would need 120 to replace the B1 and B2 1 for 1

[tdracer]

Originally Posted by rattman

Unmanned has been scrapped, as to numbers officially still unknown, they would need 120 to replace the B1 and B2 1 for 1

Not quite - although they initially built 100 B-1s, quite a few B-1s are permanently out of service (and have been for decades) and a few were lost in accidents. Current fleet is only 61 aircraft (and operationally available numbers are pretty bad).

[Commando Cody]

Originally Posted by tdracer

Not quite - although they initially built 100 B-1s, quite a few B-1s are permanently out of service (and have been for decades) and a few were lost in accidents. Current fleet is only 61 aircraft (and operationally available numbers are pretty bad).

B-1 never enjoyed the priority of the priority of the B-2 for support, so maintenance was deferred, and parts were harder to get. Plus, given the number of wars it's participated in with very rough missions including grouind support, the fleet is just wearing out. I believe the authorized fleet is down to 45 aircraft, with four more in reclaimable storage.

[Commando Cody]

Originally Posted by 8674planes

Do we think the airframe that was rolled out was a mock up or genuine?

Probably the real deal. No reason to roll out a mockup.

[Commando Cody]

Originally Posted by gums

Salute!.

Sure looks smaller to me than the B-2.

I worked on the B-2 loadout for JDAM and that thing has two humongous bays - imagine 80 MK-82 dumb bombs or 16 JDAM's/alcm's on the rotary launchers.

I suspect less conventional/dumb bombs so more room for gas.

Gums sends...

Most of the informed opinions state that it is smaller than the B-2 with a smaller payload, but probably maintains the range. The two wheel MLG Liffy 1M points out tends to support the lower weight position.

[Commando Cody]

Originally Posted by rattman

Unmanned has been scrapped, as to numbers officially still unknown, they would need 120 to replace the B1 and B2 1 for 1

The official number as of now is 100. However, USAF officials say they are planning for a bomber fleet of 225 aircraft. If they succeed in re-engining 75 B-52Hs (not a certainty since the cost has risen 50% just since contract award), that would imply a requirement for 150 B-21s.