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B-21 starts to take shape
Published images reveal first details of the new North American strategic bomber
Northrop Grumman
B-21 Raider
USAF imagge
José PEDRO Magalhães Ramos
7/8/2021
A new artistic image released this week allowed us to foresee some characteristics of the future US strategic stealth bomber designated as the B21 Raider. According to the US Air Force, the images are an artistic interpretation of the bomber taking off from Edwards Air Base, in California, where tests of the new aircraft will be conducted from the beginning of 2022.
As always happens when new aircraft begin to take shape, the curiosity of the press and military analysts around the world is raised. The analyzed image revealed some technical aspects of the new aircraft, such as a deeper bomb compartment and vertically larger structural elements. The engine's air intakes do not follow the design model of its predecessor, the B2 bomber, but the design revealed this week has yet to allow for a perception of its overall appearance or characteristics. The new cockpit windows reveal that the main windshield is curved and the side windows are arched and appear to lack an internal frame, possibly a way to minimize the radar feedback of these structures.
The aircraft's nose is very angled and its appearance resembles a bird's beak. The leading edges of the wings are very straight and all these very straight lines blend smoothly into the curved structures of the cockpit. According to Randall Walden, Program Executive Officer in an interview with Air Force Magazine, new aircraft often have problems in the structural integration of the aircraft, engines, exhausts and air intakes.
In previously revealed drawings it was possible to see if the B21's air intakes are straight and quite different from those of the B2.
these are deeper and more rounded than those of the B21.
The trailing edges of the wings and the central body of the aircraft maintain consistency with the leading edges and nose position, being very straight and the central section ends in a kind of beak, something like a bird's tail.
The aircraft's landing gear also looks simpler than the B2 predecessor, which had four-wheeled boggies while the current one rests on just two wheels per leg of the main landing gear.
So far, there is no public information on aircraft performance such as speed, altitude, range.
As with many other modern combat aircraft, it is expected that operations will be conducted with or without a crew.
As would be expected, the aircraft will be capable of launching conventional or nuclear weapons and carrying any type of ammunition for long-range (stand-off) or direct fire on the target.
the name B-21 Raider is named after the mission aviators known as the Doolittle Raiders, the aviators who conducted the first bombing raids on Japan in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Doolittle raiders used B-25 Mitchell bombers taken off the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in April 1942.
The B-21 designation breaks a bit with the tradition of naming aircraft sequentially and means the new aircraft is the first American strategic bomber of the 21st century.
According to information from the US Air Force, the initial costs of the aircraft would be 550 million dollars per unit, this in 2009 dollars, but corrected to current values would result in an individual value of about 640 million US dollars per aircraft.
Northrop Grumman
B-21 Raider
USAF imagge
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José PEDRO Magalhães Ramos
He is a professional with almost four decades of experience in aviation. Having worked at Rio Sul and TAM in the 1980s and in the 1990's, joined Vasp where he spent 10 years in the Engineering area. He then created and operated the website www.aerospace.com.br for 4 years, now extinct and in 2004 he joined Gol, having stayed until 2017 and passed in various technical and business areas. Currently as a technical consultant still-and always-in the aviation area, he dedicates his private time to create and operate this our portal!
   
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