Pentagon Debuts B-21 Raider: Newest Strategic Bomber Since Cold War

The B-21 Raider nuclear stealth bomber went public in California after years of secret development with the promise of being the “backbone” of a modernized bomber fleet for decades to come.

The designation B-21 recognizes the Raider as the first bomber of the 21st century.

“The B-21 Raider is the first strategic bomber in more than three decades,” Austin said.

The B-21 Raider is unveiled during a ceremony at Northrop Grumman’s Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, December 2, 2022.

CQ Brown Jr., predicted the B-21 will become “the backbone of our bomber fleet” thanks in part to its “updated stealth qualities and mission flexibility.”.

”We needed a new bomber for the 21st Century that would allow us to take on much more complicated threats, like the threats that we fear we would one day face from China, Russia, ” said Deborah Lee James, the Air Force secretary when the Raider contract was announced in 2015.

Artist rendering of a B-21 Raider in a hangar as seen with the background being Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, one of the future bases to host the new airframe.

When it does become available, the bombers’ main base will be Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, where training will be carried out

The B-21s will eventually join a bomber fleet that is the smallest—and oldest—in U.S