The first flight of the most powerful bomber in history. B-21 Raider revealed [WIDEO]

. Work on the new machine has been ongoing since 2015 and was carried out in secret. The first flight of the new bomber took place on Friday, November 10, at a secret facility of the United States Air Force in California. Only now do we have the opportunity to see the prototype in action.

The B-21 Raider bomber costs $750 million

The B-21 Raider aircraft will be able to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons, with the ability to refuel in the air. In 2010, it was estimated that one such bomber would cost approximately $550 million. However, today, after taking into account, the price has increased to as much as USD 750 million per unit. The Air Force plans to purchase at least 100 state-of-the-art bombers and replace them with B-1 and B-2 aircraft.

– The B-21 Raider is in the air test phase – said Ann Stefanek, spokeswoman for the Air Force, quoted by . As we read, Northrop Grumman is currently producing six test aircraft.

The B-21 Raider bomber is an evolution of the current most modern strategic bomber, the B-2. The flying wing design, which is the trademark of the Northrop concern, has been retained. […] It is evident that while the overall appearance is similar, the B-2 and B-21 are different. The shape of the hull is actually slightly different, especially in its central part. Photos from the ceremony [która odbyła się na początku grudnia 2022 r. – przyp. red.] confirm that the shape of the engine air intakes, which are important for radar detection, has been significantly changed. The shape of the cockpit windows is also different. According to the graphics presented earlier, the shape of the end of the hull will also be different, but this is not shown. The color is also different, instead of the standard black – white. However, this may be the result of the fact that the target protective coating was simply not applied in time,” wrote Maciek Kucharczyk in his analysis.

The B-21 Raider bomber is closely guarded from China

The B-21 Raider is the first new American bomber in over 30 years. Both Northrop Grumman and the US Air Force tried to protect the details of the program at all costs to prevent China from gaining access to the technology and building a similar version, as is the case, for example, with the F-35 fighter, he notes. According to current plans, the new bomber may become operational around 2025.