Just in:B-21 Raider & B-2 Spirit Takeoff - Better film of the B-21 Raider launch,plus a B-2 Spirit launch that occurred a few hours later. 1

The B-21 flew to Edwards Air Force Base nearby.It was escorted by an F-16D Fighting Falcon.The B-2 Spirit was perhaps at Plant 42 for an upgrade or maintenance which are also provided at US Air Force Plant 42.

Images of US Air Force's new B-21 Raider stealth bomber on its first flight on 10 November 2023

A brief film of the undisclosed first flight is followed by stills and earlier footage of the unveiling.The Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider was escorted by a Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon.A Reuters journalist was monitoring the activity at the Palmdale,California Plant 42 facility in the Mojave Desert.Plant 42 is owned by the US Air Force and operated as a component of nearby Edwards Air Force Base.It is a Government-Owned,Contractor-Operated facility (GOCO).Besides developing classified aircraft,it also services existing aircraft such as the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber.Lockheed Martin (LMT),Northrop Grumman (NOC)

B-21 Taxi Tests Underway, As Bomber Prepares for First Flight - Avionics International

B-21 Taxi Tests Underway, As Bomber Prepares for First Flight - Avionics International: Taxi tests of the Northrop Grumman [NOC] B-21 Raider stealth bomber are underway near Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., as the aircraft prepares for first flight. The Air Force issued […] Northrop Grumman (NOC)

B-21 Raider Rollout Livestream - Edwards Air Force Base

Game-Changer:B-21 Raider To Break New Ground in Deep Strike

The US Air Force intends to develop a sixth generation,long-range fighter jet to escort the new B-21 Raider strategic nuclear-capable bomber deep into enemy territory.The fighter is called "Penetrating Counter-Air" and is to assist the B-21 in supression of enemy air defences.* The B-21,which has a flying wing design similar to the B-2 Spirit bomber,is a subsonic aircraft,that is,flying slower than the speed of sound (Mach 1 is the point that is just beyond the speed of sound).The speed of sound varies depending on air temperature and other atmospheric conditions.The Raider is subsonic because of its large payload capacity of a mix of nuclear and conventional ordnance.It can deliver both the B61-12 tactical nuclear weapon as well as the Long Range Standoff (LRSO) nuclear cruise missile.With its advanced stealth design features and NextGen radar-absorbent coatings,lead contractor Northrop Grumman considers it the most advanced military aircraft ever built.So it will be capable of penetrating the toughest defences to deliver precision strikes in Anti-Access/Area Denial zones.* Six B-21s are currently in various stages of production in Palmdale,California.One of them is scheduled for unveiling to an invited audience in early December 2022,with first flight in early 2023.The Air Force Global Strike Command plans to acquire at least 100 B-21s,though the number may eventually reach about 200.Initial Operating Capability should come in the mid-2020s.Ellsworth Air Force Base,South Dakota is the preferred basing location for the first B-21 main operating base and formal training unit,with Dyess AFB,Texas as an alternate.The Air Force plans to retire the B-2 Spirit and B-1B Lancer bombers first as the B-21 comes online,with the B-52H Stratofortress remaining in service alongside the B-21 till mid-century.* Advanced software development techniques called DevStar will enable the upgrading of the Raider at the speed of relevance,incrementally adding warfighting capablities as opposed to the current massive Block approach.The B-21 will be able to rapidly field capability enhancements to both hardware and software,with enough processing power to quickly process information from onboard sensors and external sources for threat detection.Digital design and engineering make it possible to incrementally improve B-21 characteristics on a continuous basis.Suffice it to say,it is like nothing else ever seen before on the flight line. For example,the Raider will have minimum aircraft signatures in multiple frequency bands.* Subcontractors of the B-21 include Pratt and Whitney (Raytheon Technologies subsidiary);BAE Systems;Collins Aerospace (Raytheon Technologies subsidiary) and Spirit AeroSystems.* BAE Systems ADR (OTC:BAESY),Northrop Grumman (NOC),Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX),Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc (SPR)

Northrop Grumman and U.S. Air Force Plan B-21 Unveiling in the First Week of December

Northrop Grumman and U.S. Air Force Plan B-21 Unveiling in the First Week of December: Northrop Grumman [NOC] said on Sept. 20 that it will unveil its B-21 Raider stealth bomber for the U.S. Air Force the first week of December at the company’s Palmdale, Calif., plant–a timeline confirmed the same day by Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter during his appearance at a media roundtable at the Air & […]

Anti-Access/Area Denial Brings New Roles for the B-1B Lancer

Some new roles have been assigned to the B-1B Lancer supersonic bomber.The plane,capable of low altitude strike to evade enemy air defences,originated in the 1980s under the Reagan administration,when it was seen as part of the nuclear deterrent.Its nuclear capability was removed in the 1990s in accordance with an arms control agreement with Russia,replaced by racks for conventional weapons.
The B-1 was a mainstay for NATO forces during the Afghan War at its height and went on to serve brilliantly in Operation Inherent Resolve,destroying hundreds of Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.*
In June 2018,Lancers from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base,South Dakota,conducted the first combat use of the Extended Range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (ERJASSM) against Assad regime chemical weapons facilities in Syria.In July of that year,Ellsworth became the first AFB to train with the new Lockheed Martin AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM).The B-1B has achieved Early Operational Capability (EOC) with the missile.Former Ellsworth Commander COL John Edwards told the Rapid City Journal:
We've seen that shift with a little bit more emphasis in what we call the 'standoff strike role',where we fire those really long-distance missiles against an enemy,whether it's a ship,whether it's a mass destruction facility,or whether it's a headquarters building.And we do that because those weapons reduce the risk to our crew.Our air crews don't have to fly as close to a lot of those targets,which are heavily defended at times.*
Ellsworth will be the first AFB to host the new B-21 Raider strategic bomber in the mid-2020s.It was selected on 29 March 2019 as the preferred location for the first operational B-21 and the formal training unit.Whiteman Air Force Base,Missouri and Dyess Air Force Base,Texas will receive B-21s as they become available.With the arrival of B-21s,the B-1B and B-2 Spirit bombers will be phased out incrementally.The B-52s,however,will continue to serve until 2050.
Air Force Chief of Staff GEN Michael Goldfein explained:
The B-21 is a highly survivable aircraft capable of penetrating enemy air space with a mix of weapons.It is a central point of a penetrating joint team.*
BAE Systems produces the multimodal sensor of the LRASM.According to Bruce Koningsberg,Radio Frequency Sensors product area director at BAE:
Our sensor systems provide US warfighters with a strike capability that lets them engage protected,high-value maritime targets from safe distances.The missile provides a critical advantage to US warfighters.*
The BAE long-range targeting technology enables detection and engagement of highly protected ships in all weather conditions and 24/7,without external intelligence and navigation data.Early Operational Capability for the LRASM on the US Navy FA/18E-F Super Hornet is expected in 2019.The US Marine Corps is also interested in a land-based version of a LRASM.*
The B-1B is getting a new targeting system to increase its capability in Non-Traditional Intelligence,Surveillance and Reconnaissance (NTISR) as well as precision strike.Tests of a new targeting pod are underway.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT),BAE SYS PLC/S ADR  OTC MKTS:BAESY

STRATCOM Commander's Warning:How Russia and China Threaten the US and its Allies

US Air Force General John Hyten,Commander,US Strategic Command,testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on 20 March 2018.In an opening statement and answers to senators' questions in  both open testimony and private visits,GEN Hyten gave an assessment of the current and future threats from our adversaries and STRATCOM's level of readiness to counter them.Two US Army veterans,Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) and Senator Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) are the Second-Ranking Republican and Ranking Member of the Committee,respectively,while US Navy veteran and former POW Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) is Chairman.
According to GEN Hyten:
The most important message I want to deliver today is that the forces under my command (184,000 Soldiers,Airmen,Sailors and Marines) are fully ready to deter our adversaries and respond decisively,should deterrence ever fail.We are ready for all threats.Our forces and capabilities underpin and enable all other joint force operations.*
STRATCOM missions include fielding our nuclear,cyber and space forces.It also synchronises global missile defence plans and operations;electromagnetic spectrum operations and electronic warfare;over the entire continuum of land-sea-air-electromagnetic spectrum and space.*
GEN Hyten continued:
To maintain military superiority in this multi-polar,all-domain world,we must out-think,out-manoeuvre,out-partner,and out-innovate our adversaries.Deterrence in the twenty-first century requires the integration of all our capabilities,across all domains,enabling us to respond to adversary aggression anytime,anywhere.
The bedrock of our nation's deterrence continues to be our safe,secure,ready and reliable nuclear triad (sea,air and land-based systems).While the current triad continues to provide the backbone of our national security,we will eventually consume the last remaining margin from our investments made in the Cold War.
Today our nation is challenged by multiple adversaries with an expanding range of capabilities available to them.Our modernisation programmes are critical and include the B-21 bomber;the Columbia-class Ballistic Missile Submarine;the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent;the Long-Range Standoff Cruise Missile;Nuclear Command-and-Control;and Life-Extended Nuclear Warheads;which will provide without a doubt the nuclear deterrence capability our nation needs now and well into the future.
The biggest difference between the 2018 and the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review is in the return to threat-based planning and the response to great power competition.We started the NPR with the assessment of the threat-it was all about the threat-and based our approach on what our adversaries are doing today and the increasing challenges of the future.
1.Low-Yield Nuclear Weapons
I strongly agree with the need for a low-yield nuclear weapon.That capability is a deterrence weapon to respond to the threat that Russia in particular is portraying.President Putin as far back as 2000 announced that the Russian doctrine will be to use a low-yield nuclear weapon on the battlefield in the face of a conventional overmatch with an adversary.
We do have low-yield nuclear weapons,but those are with our aviation capabilities right now (the B61 nuclear bomb on NATO fighter-bomber aircraft),and those capabilities might not be the right response in terms of timeliness and survivability to get to where the threat is.Therefore,to respond to the threat,we need a small number of low-yield nuclear weapons that we can deploy on our Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles,still in the new START limits.
2.Hypersonic Nuclear Weapons
A hypersonic threat is a system that starts out ballistic,and so you'll see it like a ballistic missile,but then it depresses its trajectory and then flies more like a cruise missile or an airplane;and so it goes up into the low reaches of space,and then levels out and flies at a very high level of speed-and that's hypersonic,that's a hypersonic weapon.Both Russia and China are developing these capabilities.We'ver watched them test these capabilities;so both Russia and China are aggressively pursuing these weapons.I can give the details in a classified session.
Our defence is our deterrence capability.We don't have any defence that could deny the employment of such a weapon against us;so our response would be our deterrent force,which would be the triad and the nuclear capabilities that we would have to respond to such a threat,GEN Hyten explained at the recent hearing on Capitol Hill.

US Nuclear Forces Upgrade Momentum - deep strike war plans

The US Air Force has gotten its nuclear forces modernisation plan seriously underway by awarding several preliminary design contracts to leading aerospace firms.On 22 April 2017,the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent contract was awarded to Boeing and Northrop Grumman.This is for the replacement of the silo-based Minuteman III ICBM and is under the heading of "technology maturation and risk-reduction."The contracts run for three years,at the end of which the winner will be chosen.Orbital ATK and Aerojet Rocketdyne are potential subcontractors for the GBSD's solid fuel rocket engines.*
On 23 April 2017,the preliminary contracts for the AGM-86B nuclear cruise missile replacement,which is termed the Long Range Standoff weapon,or LRSO,were awarded to Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.This is under the heading of "maturing design concepts and proving developmental technologies."Each company got a 900 million dollar contract running for 54 months.At the end of the period,the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center will select one firm for the Engineering,Manufacturing Development and Production and Deployment phases of the project,the USAF said.*
The current nuclear cruise missile,the AGM-86B,dates from the early 1980s,when it was projected to have a 10-year design life.The Air Force believes the missile will continue to face increasingly significant operational challenges against emerging threats as well as reliability challenges.
Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein noted that:
The Long Range Standoff weapon is a critical capability required to support General John Hyten's war plans.*
General John Hyten is commander,US Strategic Command.*
General Robin Rand,commander,Air Force Global Strike Command,told the House Armed Services Committee that:
The LRSO missile will ensure the bomber force continues to hold high-value targets at risk in an evolving threat environment,including targets deep within an area-denied environment.*
Besides the B-2 Spirit and B-52H Stratofortress legacy strategic bombers,the LRSO will be fitted to the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider,a very large stealth strategic bomber capable of both conventional and nuclear strike that is currently in development.Indeed,the Air Force has already begun planning for an appropriate stealth fighter escort for the B-21.The new fighter is known as the Penetrating Counter-Air,or PCA,and will accompany the B-21 deep into hostile territory.That's all that is known about it as of now.*
Besides its bomber role,the B-21 Raider will reportedly have intelligence gathering,battle management and interceptor capabilities-a bravura suite of competencies for sure.The B-21's subcontractors include BAE Systems;Rockwell Collins;and Orbital ATK.*
Nor is that all.The Air Force is also planning a stealth refueling tanker,the KC-Z.*
Boeing (BA),Northrop Grumman (NOC),Lockheed Martin (LMT),Raytheon Company (RTN)