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)
Tag: November 10
ULA’s Atlas V Rocket Launched JPSS-2, LOFTID into Space Thursday
The AP reports that United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket launched the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) into space Thursday. The rocket “lifted off at 1:49 a.m. from Vandenberg Space Force Base, northwest of Los Angeles.” JPSS-2, developed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “was placed into an orbit that circles the Earth from pole to pole, joining previously launched satellites in a system designed to improve weather forecasting and climate monitoring.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
Video
ULA Atlas V Launches JPSS-2 Mission, November 10, 2022
(NASASpaceflight; YouTube)