FlightGlobal reports that the US Air Force has released an “artist rendering graphic” of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber. This third rendering that has been released by the service “differs from the second rendering, released in early 2020, in that the B-21’s cockpit windows are shown to be divided into multiple pieces: a triangle-shaped forward window and a diagonal parallelogram side window. The rendering only shows one side of the aircraft, but presumably the layout is the same on the opposite side of the aircraft, meaning the cockpit is made of four window pieces.” The Air Force “gave no explanation for the window layout. However, cockpit canopies can reflect radar waves increasing the radar cross-section of an aircraft. Smaller windows might make the aircraft stealthier.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)
Tag: B-21 Bomber
NASA Tests Mars Crash Landing
CNET News reported that NASA JPL is testing Simplified High Impact Energy Landing Device (SHIELD), which uses a crumple cone to lessen the effect of impact on future Mars landing craft. “JPL shared a video on Thursday showing SHIELD in action during a drop test from a 90-foot-tall (27-meter-tall) tower. The device takes a hard landing at 110 mph (177 kph) into a thick steel plate to mimic the worst conditions it might experience during a Mars arrival.” A SHIELD system could be an improvement on the current parachute and thruster to slow landing designs used in Mars landing craft. “If the lander ends up working under Mars conditions, it could potentially be used for other interesting places in the solar system, including moons.”
Full Story (CNET News)
B-21 Debut Set for December 2
FlightGlobal reported that Northrop Grumman said it would debut its B-21 Raider on December 2. “Northrop won the $21.4 billion engineering and design contract for the new strategic bomber in 2015.” Currently, there are six B-21s in testing and final assembly.
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B-21 to Make First Flight in 2023
Air Force Times reports that the first flight of the B-21 Raider stealth bomber is expected to take place in 2023. The public unveiling of the bomber is expected later in 2022. The first B-21 “finished its first in a series of ground tests at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, earlier this month.”
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China, Russia, and US Expected to Renew Long-Range Bomber Fleets
Aviation Week reports, “As of 2022, only three countries continue to operate dedicated long-range bombers – China, Russia and the U.S. – with 518 aircraft in service around the world.” Aviation Week Network “projects the number will increase over the next decade to 574 aircraft as the same three operators modernize and expand their fleets.” The next generation of bombers includes “the Air Force’s B-21 and China’s H-20,” while “the largest single family of bombers in service around the world is the Xian H-6 operated by China, itself a platform that can trace its lineage back 70 years to the first flight of the Tupolev Tu-16 just 12 days after the B-52.”
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First B-21 Aircraft Starts Ground Testing, Assembly Begins on Sixth Bomber
Aviation Week reports that the first B-21 Raider “test aircraft has started ground evaluations, and the sixth example of the next-generation bomber has started production.” The announcement was made by the US Air Force at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium on Thursday.
Full Story (Aviation Week)