Posted on 02/26/2016 8:50:25 AM PST by BenLurkin
The U.S. Air Force has unveiled the first concept image of its futuristic B-21 long range bomber, which will be built by Northrop Grumman.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James revealed the artist's rendering at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., Friday. There are no existing prototypes of the aircraft, so the artist's rendering is based on its initial design concept.
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James said the B-21 will let the Air Force launch from the continental U.S. and deliver airstrikes on any location in the world. The Air Force Secretary also acknowledged the B-21's resemblance to the current B-2 stealth bomber, which is also made by Northrop Grumman. "The B-21 has been designed from the beginning based on a set of requirements that allows the use of existing and mature technology," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
HUH??? That is a B-2A.
Fail.
Let’s hope they kept the usefulness of the shape, while dropping those characteristics that ultimately rendered the B-2 too delicate to use.
I wonder if this plane will cost a Billion dollars per copy so we can have a fleet of only 15?
The B2 started as a fleet of twenty and through accidents knocked that number down a bit.
Seems to me we already have that base covered in other ways.
Workhorse aircraft such as A10’s and improving existing helicopters that have multi use would be more practical than another long range bomber at this point.
Air intakes are different.
I’m thinking the per-copy price could buy a whole lot of satellites and tungsten rods.
The initial order for B-2s was for more than 100.
The per unit price would have been much, much less had we built the entire run.
Or even half the run.
Likely canceled when latest increasing costs of the ‘must have’ F-35 program eat it up.
You can’t have a supersonic stealth aircraft because due to the friction caused by the air rubbing against the skin of the plane the aircraft will heat up and light up on infrared tracking devices quite easily.
A supersonic stealth aircraft would be take. Out in short order.
“HUH??? That is a B-2A.”
Only twice as sleek!
So can Chinese radar see this one too? Does the Air Force really want this aircraft. What congress critters and senators benefit?
I was at an air show that had a B-2 flyby. Besides looking like something out of science fiction what was most impressive was how quietly it flew. At a couple thousand feet directly over the crowd it made about as much sound as a bus passing by. Eerie quiet. Supersonic, or rather mach 5+ hypersonic, is what the next generation cruise missiles and bombers they’re simply not going to tell us about yet will be about.
“A supersonic stealth aircraft would be take. Out in short order.”
Depends on how supersonic it is.
I believe we lost one airframe, so we’re down to 19.
That and satellite “space rod” targeted hyperspeed weapons with deadly accuracy.
The war in space is going on, right now— without any tally publicly made. Inter-satellite battles, laser attacks, memory attacks
Also, an aircraft in a/b uses considerable amount of fuel. which negates long range capability if you have to rely on refueling aircraft that identify where you are or are going to be.
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