{"id":42746,"date":"2018-06-25T20:40:55","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T20:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:54:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:54:27","slug":"the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Air Force\u2019s super secret <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/air-force-association\/2017\/09\/19\/rand-cautiously-optimistic-about-b-21-looking-to-b-2-for-lessons-learned\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">B-21 bomber program<\/a> is gliding toward a major development milestone known as the critical design review, which is set to wrap up by the end of 2018, the director of the Air Force\u2019s Rapid Capabilities Office said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve been through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/nuclear-arsenal\/2017\/03\/08\/b-21-raider-covertly-completes-preliminary-design-review\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">preliminary design review<\/a>, so we\u2019re on a path to go into a more critical design and move on with the production of not only the test aircraft, but if I have my way, make sure that we get the development done properly leading up to an on-time start of production,\u201d Randall Walden said at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event. Walden\u2019s office, the RCO, is in charge of developing the B-21 and ensuring the program\u2019s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFrom my perspective, this is about producing 100 bombers, not about just getting through development,\u201d he added. \u201cDevelopment is a phase that leads into the fielding of this critical need. So my focus is getting the production started, but I can\u2019t do that until we understand what the design looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/03\/07\/some-hiccups-with-engine-design-but-b-21-on-track-wittman-says\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"170\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/B-21_ocean.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Some \u2018hiccups\u2019 with engine design, but B-21 on track, Wittman says<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">There have been some challenges with airflow and wing design early in B-21 production, but those shouldn&#039;t be game-stoppers, Rep. Rob Wittman says.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Walden also acknowledged later that, while B-21 Raider production has not started, the office has begun component testing and put a subscale model of the bomber through wind tunnel tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He declined to detail the scale of the model or where it has been tested, but noted that there are relatively few wind tunnel facilities in the United States, such as the Propulsion Wind Tunnel Facility in Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAny aircraft program that\u2019s going to go through development, you\u2019re going to do wind tunnel testing, and we\u2019re no different,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou\u2019re going to go from an estimate on a piece of paper and drawings to the right things that it would take to get you to build out the system, and wind tunnel testing is one of them. We\u2019re following that logic because it makes sense from an engineering point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Twitter, multiple aerospace wonks, including Jeremiah Gertler of the Congressional Research Service and Tyler Rogoway of The Drive, noted that the wind tunnel tests had likely happened far earlier into the program to enable the first B-21 unit to begin fielding around 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force wants to buy at least 100 B-21s. It awarded Northrop Grumman a cost-plus engineering and manufacturing development contract in October 2015, which was estimated to have a value of a $21.4 billion in 2010 dollars. The service has said each aircraft is set to cost about $550 million in 2010 dollars, and it is using a separate fixed-price contract vehicle for the production phase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Warden said Monday that four bomber pilots from Air Force Global Strike Command are embedded within the program office to provide feedback to improve the B-21 and to help relay information to command head Gen. Robin Rand, who meets with Warden every month for a status update on the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And although the RCO is located in Washington, D.C., it also relies on engineers and experts from the Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and the Air Force Sustainment Center at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond that, very little information about the program is publicly available due to its high level of classification, including the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2017\/10\/18\/b-21-cost-info-to-stay-secret-despite-new-air-force-leadership\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">total value of contracts given to Northrop<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, Gen. Stephen Wilson, the Air Force\u2019s vice chief of staff, told lawmakers that the B-21 had completed its preliminary design review and was proceeding on cost and schedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And in March, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, expressed satisfaction with the trajectory of the program, even as he noted that the Pratt &amp; Whitney-built engine was experiencing growing pains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The issue, according to Wittman, seemed to center around the flow of air through the B-21 engine. Pratt &amp; Whitney has not divulged the model of engines used to power the Raider, but it is thought that the bomber will use a variant of the F135 built for the F-35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those engine problems were found as the program began moving from paper design to testing real hardware, and have since been resolved, said Warden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPrior to anything being built, it\u2019s predictive. So engineering predictions are made; the moment you start getting some insight into actual lab testing, it informs you to what the answer should be. So once we had that data, it was fairly easy to go: \u2018Here\u2019s the path we\u2019re on,\u2019 \u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re in that phase today of getting a good feel for each of the components, how they\u2019re going to be integrated in and the engineering associated with that integration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Correction 6\/27\/18 at 1:51 p.m. EST: A previous version of the story misstated the location of Tinker AFB, which is in Oklahoma.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Remember also that a 2025 IOC isn&#39;t just one bomber, but a unit. Seven years from model to 5-10 built?  Also, a recent wind tunnel model wouldn&#39;t really fit the spending curve. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Aviation_Intel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Aviation_Intel<\/a> is on point.<\/p>&mdash; J.J. Gertler \u2708\ufe0f (@JeremiahGertler) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JeremiahGertler\/status\/1011297119200784385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s next for the Air Force&#8217;s B-21 bomber?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":77600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,24,89,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3305],"class_list":["post-42746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PMCGRC4AKREQXM6WQMZCHZ7LDU","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What&#039;s next for the Air Force&#039;s B-21 bomber?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What&#039;s next for the Air Force&#039;s B-21 bomber?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Air Force TImes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-25T20:40:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:54:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Valerie Insinna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Valerie Insinna\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2018-06-25T20:40:55+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:54:27+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 828,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/B-21_Edited.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Your Air Force\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year - Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/B-21_Edited.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2018-06-25T20:40:55+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:54:27+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"What's next for the Air Force's B-21 bomber?\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/B-21_Edited.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/B-21_Edited.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/25\\\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"News\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"news\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Your Air Force\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/your-air-force\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"your-air-force\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 4,\n\t                    \"name\": \"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Air Force TImes\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year - Air Force TImes","description":"What's next for the Air Force's B-21 bomber?","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year","og_description":"What's next for the Air Force's B-21 bomber?","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/","og_site_name":"Air Force TImes","article_published_time":"2018-06-25T20:40:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T22:54:27+00:00","author":"Valerie Insinna","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Valerie Insinna","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year","datePublished":"2018-06-25T20:40:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:54:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/"},"wordCount":828,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/B-21_Edited.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Home","Middle Column","News","Newsletters","Your Air Force"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/","name":"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year - Air Force TImes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/B-21_Edited.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2018-06-25T20:40:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:54:27+00:00","description":"What's next for the Air Force's B-21 bomber?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/B-21_Edited.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/B-21_Edited.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/25\/the-new-b-21-raider-could-hit-a-big-milestone-this-year\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/","ad_zone":"news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Your Air Force","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/","ad_zone":"your-air-force"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"The new B-21 Raider could hit a big milestone this year"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","name":"Air Force TImes","description":"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization","name":"Air Force TImes","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","caption":"Air Force TImes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Air Force TImes","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/B-21_Edited.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42746"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88080,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42746\/revisions\/88080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42746"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=42746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}