Tag: Northrop Grumman

B-21 Raider Undergoing Flight Testing

Defense News reported that the “B-21 Raider took to the air for the first time in November, nearly a year after its public debut in California. In 2024, the U.S. Air Force’s next stealth bomber could take even greater steps.” The first B-21 Raider “flew to Edwards Air Force Base on Nov. 10. It is now undergoing flight testing, which also includes ground tests and taxiing.” The USAF has “confirmed at least six B-21s are in various stages of construction by Northrop Grumman or are undergoing tests. The program is now in the engineering and manufacturing development phase, the service said in November, and Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota is expected to receive its first Raider in the mid-2020s. The service plans to buy at least 100 B-21s, an advanced stealth bomber, to replace the aging B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers. It will provide the service with new abilities to conduct penetrating deep-strike missions, and the aircraft will be able to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons.”
Full Story (Defense News)

Northrop Grumman Remains on Track to Fly B-21 Raider Before End of 2023

FlightGlobal reports Northrop Grumman said that it “remains on track to fly the secretive B-21 Raider stealth bomber before the end of 2023, with the US Air Force expected to issue the company a low-rate initial production contract for the type shortly after that milestone.” Defense Daily reports that this week, the USAF said in a statement that “the B-21 is conducting ground taxi activities.” The USAF said, “Rigorous testing is a critical step in the B-21 flight test program. … Extensive testing evaluates systems, components, and functionalities. This testing allows us to mitigate risks, optimize design, and enhance operational effectiveness.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal); More Info (Defense Daily)

Northrop Grumman to Upgrade its Cygnus Cargo Vehicle

Space News reports, “Northrop Grumman is planning upgrades to its Cygnus cargo vehicle, such as increased payload capacity, to support both the International Space Station and future commercial space stations.” According to Rick Mastracchio, director of strategy and business development at Northrop Grumman Space Systems, “We’re trying to prepare and think way ahead on how do we start updating the vehicle, making sure we have a spacecraft that will be flying 10 years from now, 20 years from now.” Currently, the Cygnus “can carry about 3,750 kilograms of pressurized cargo to the station,” whereas the upgrade will see the vehicle carrying 5,000 kilograms.
Full Story (Space News)

Final Antares 230+ Rocket Lifts Off to Resupply ISS

Spaceflight Insider reports that in near-perfect weather, the final Antares 230+ rocket “took to the skies to send the Cygnus cargo spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station.” Carrying the autonomous NG-19 Cygnus resupply freighter, dubbed the S.S. Laurel Clark, the Antares rocket successfully “launched at 8:31 p.m. EDT Aug. 1 (00:31 UTC Aug. 2), 2023, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.” It flawlessly lifted off “from its launchpad, drawing a bright arc of light against the fading evening sunset, marking the start of another critical cargo run to the ISS.” Some 8,200 pounds (3,700 kilograms) of supplies, hardware and experiments “are aboard NG-19. It is expected to arrive at the ISS on the morning of Aug. 4 where it will be captured by the outpost’s robotic arm and attached to the Earth-facing port of the Unity module.” Over the coming weeks, members of the station’s Expedition 69 crew “will work to unload the cargo before beginning to reload it with trash.” After about two months, Cygnus “is expected to depart the ISS for an eventual destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Insider)

 

Video

Last Antares Rocket Using Russian Rocket Engines
Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

Northrop Grumman Prepares for Final Antares Flight

Space News reports that a Cygnus cargo spacecraft “is set to launch to the International Space Station on the final flight of a version of an Antares rocket with Russian and Ukrainian components.” NASA and Northrop Grumman “completed a launch readiness review July 30 for the NG-19 mission, approving plans to launch the spacecraft on Aug. 1 at 8:31 p.m. Eastern from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.” The Cygnus is “carrying nearly 3,750 kilograms of cargo to the station, including experiments, hardware and crew supplies.” An on-time launch “would allow the spacecraft to arrive at the station early Aug. 4 and remain there at least three months.”
Full Story (Space News)

Northrop Grumman’s Resupply Capsule Departs ISS

Aviation Week reported that Northrop Grumman’s 18th “NASA-contracted resupply mission capsule departed the seven-person International Space Station (ISS) early April 21, filled with trash on a trajectory for a destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean later in the day.”
Full Story (Aviation Today)

Test Pilots Say B-21’s Odd Windows Not a Problem

Air Force Times reported, “The test pilots who will be the first to fly the B-21 Raider, the Air Force’s next stealth bomber, are now working with Air Force and Northrop Grumman officials to draw up a game plan for its first flights next year.” However, “one thing that’s not weighing on their minds, the pilots stressed to reporters before the bomber’s Dec. 2 rollout at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California: The shape of the B-21′s windows and the field of view they will allow pilots.”
Full Story (Air Force Times)

Pratt & Whitney’s Engine Powers New B-21

Connecticut Post reports that the B-21 “is the Air Force’s first new bomber since the 1989 debut of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, with both using a ‘flying wing’ design to reduce the odds of showing up on radar, which uses four engines from GE Aviation.” The Air Force “has yet to specify how many engines will power the B-21.” Military trade publications “have cited analyst speculation that the B-21 engine may be a variant of the F135 engine Pratt & Whitney makes for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.” Pratt & Whitney recently “completed its 1,000th engine under the F135 program.” Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes said, “The F135 … is the safest, most capable and best-value, military jet engine in operation. We’re working on the F135 engine core upgrade. … This will allow the F135 to provide even more thrust, range and electrification to the aircraft.”
Full Story (Connecticut Post)

B-21 Bomber to Debut

Reuters reports that Northrop Grumman “is set to roll out the first plane in a new fleet of long-range stealth nuclear bombers for the United States Air Force at a ceremony in Palmdale, California[,] on Friday.” Similar in shape to the B-2, a “flying wing” design already “in the Air Force’s inventory, the B-21 ‘Raider’ will also be able to deliver nuclear weapons around the world because of long-range and mid-air refueling capabilities.” Each B-21, which can “deliver both conventional and nuclear bombs, was projected to cost approximately $550 million each in 2010 dollars, or about $750 million in today’s inflation-adjusted dollars.” The Air Force “planned to buy at least 100 of the planes and…replace B-1 and B-2 bombers.” Northrop beat out a team composed of The Boeing Company “and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) when it won the 2015 contract to make the bomber alongside suppliers including engine maker Pratt & Whitney (RTX.N), Collins Aerospace, GKN Aerospace, BAE Systems (BAES.L) and Spirit Aerosystems (SPR.N).”
Learn More (Reuters)