{"id":29238,"date":"2021-01-19T18:27:30","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T18:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/19\/watch-the-skies-in-2022-for-the-first-b-21-bomber-flight\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:25:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:25:47","slug":"watch-the-skies-in-2022-for-the-first-b-21-bomber-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/01\/19\/watch-the-skies-in-2022-for-the-first-b-21-bomber-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch the skies in 2022 for the first B-21 bomber flight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Sorry, aviation geeks: The first flight of the U.S. Air Force\u2019s latest stealth bomber won\u2019t be happening this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force had once projected the first flight of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2020\/07\/02\/house-slides-money-into-b-21-bomber-procurement-account\/\" target=_blank>Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider <\/a>would occur <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/air\/2019\/07\/25\/coming-in-2021-the-b-21-raiders-first-flight\/\" target=_blank>in December 2021<\/a>, but the new bomber will not be ready to roll out until early next year for a flight in mid-2022, said the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office director, Randall Walden, according to a Jan. 15 story in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcemag.com\/second-b-21-under-construction-as-bomber-moves-toward-first-flight\/\" target=_blank>Air Force Magazine<\/a>. The RCO manages the B-21 program on behalf of the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two B-21s are under construction <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2019\/08\/21\/the-b-21-raider-looms-large-over-the-celebration-of-b-2s-first-flight\/\" target=_blank>at Northrop Grumman\u2019s production facility in Palmdale, California.<\/a> The first aircraft hasn\u2019t made it to final assembly yet but is \u201creally starting to look like a bomber,\u201d Walden told Air Force Magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe second one is really more about structures, and the overall structural capability,\u201d Walden said. \u201cWe\u2019ll go in and bend it, we\u2019ll test it to its limits, make sure that the design and the manufacturing and the production line make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although information about the B-21 is notoriously limited, with many details of the Raider\u2019s cost, appearance and capability classified, Walden offered a couple optimistic notes about the program\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For one, production of the B-21 is already becoming more efficient during the build of the second aircraft, he said. Northrop Grumman is using a business jet as a test bed for new avionics and software, allowing those systems to be debugged before they are installed in the B-21 aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While there have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2020\/08\/13\/b-21-still-on-track-despite-complications-from-pandemic\/\" target=_blank>some disruptions to the supply chain<\/a> due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Walden said the program has worked with companies to mitigate changes to the production schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn the last few months, we did another successful end-to-end demonstration to further mature that hardware and software, and it\u2019s working quite well,\u201d Walden said. \u201cWe\u2019re preparing ourselves not just for first flight, but ultimately the subsystem testing that will be required during those flight test phases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force has committed to buying at least 100 B-21s, although officials such as Gen. Timothy Ray, who leads Air Force Global Strike Command, said more will be needed to meet the service\u2019s future bomber requirements, which could be in excess of 220 aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service is expected to make a final decision this year on which bomber installations will first host the Raider. In March 2019, the Air Force picked Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota as its preferred location, with Dyess AFB in Texas as an alternate location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A virtual industry day was held Jan. 11 to provide information on contract opportunities for construction projects needed to support B-21 operations. Those facilities could include a \u201clow-observable restoration facility, a wash rack and general maintenance hangar, and a mission operations planning facility,\u201d according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.af.mil\/News\/Article-Display\/Article\/2468067\/air-force-participates-in-b-21-beddown-construction-industry-day\/\" target=_blank>Air Force<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service expects to begin fielding the B-21 in the mid-2020s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Construction of the second B-21 is underway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65916,"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":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"}}},"categories":[7,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-29238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CJHBCAAXBJDVHNRXQUU62CEY2A","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2021\/01\/19\/watch-the-skies-in-2022-for-the-first-b-21-bomber-flight\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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