Northrop Grumman, an American aerospace and defense company, publicly unveiled the United States Air Force’s new stealth bomber during a ceremony in Palmdale, California on Dec. 2, 2022. Designated the B-21 Raider, it is a successor to the successful B-2 Spirit, also engineered by Northrop Grumman. Almost a year later on Nov. 10, at approximately 06:51, the Raider took to the skies for its maiden flight from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale.
The Raider takes its name in honor of the Doolittle raids of April 1942. Which saw 16 United States Army Air Force B-25 Mitchell bombers take off from the deck of the carrier USS Hornet to perform a fire bombing raid over Tokyo.
The Raider looks very similar to the B-2. They both have the iconic “flying wing” design, but that is where similarities end. The Raider is smaller to improve range but it is also the world’s first sixth generation aircraft. Northrop Grumman describes these advances which allow the B-21 to “enable rapid upgradability from inclusion of new weapons to software upgrades thanks to advanced networking capabilities and successful cloud environment migration. With these innovations, the B-21 is designed to meet evolving threats for decades to come.”
While not publicized by the Air Force, this event still garnered a crowd of enthusiasts and photographers hoping to get a good look of the new bomber. The only other time the Raider has been viewable by the public was at that tightly regulated unveiling ceremony where the bomber was only wheeled partially out of the hanger, with controlled lighting and a head on view.
Interest about the program can also be seen at Westerville North. Anna Melton (2025) holds a great interest in military aviation and history.
“I find planes incredibly interesting, technologically they are really neat and I really like military history so those things intersect well together,” Melton said.
The B-21 marks the first time the U.S. has developed a dedicated bomber aircraft since the first B-2 was delivered on Dec. 17, 1993.
“It’s the first time since the B-2 America has created something specifically to be a bomber, in general, militaries have been shifting towards multi-role aircraft. It’s interesting to see an aircraft meant for just bombing in the current military climate.” Melton said.
The six B-21s currently in service will undergo the flight test phase before full production and deliveries will take place. The plan is to have a fleet of 100 aircraft which will replace the existing B-2 and B-1 fleets and become the backbone of nuclear deterrence.
