US Air Pressure plans to purchase a minimum of 100 B-21 Raider stealth bombers, which include a $700 million price ticket per airplane.
The USA has unveiled its newest high-tech strategic bomber – the B-21 Raider – which is able to carrying a nuclear payload and may be flown and not using a crew on board.
The following-generation stealth bomber was rolled out at arm’s producer Northrop Grumman’s facility in California throughout a flashy ceremony attended by high US officers on Friday.
The US Air Pressure plans to purchase a minimum of 100 of the B-21 plane, which comes with a $700m price ticket per airplane, a Northrop Grumman spokesperson mentioned.
The revealing of the brand new bombers comes at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions between the US, Russia and China amid the warfare in Ukraine and the territorial integrity of Taiwan.
Russian and Chinese language strategic bombers flew a joint eight-hour patrol over the western Pacific on Wednesday in a show of ongoing army cooperation between the 2 nations.
China’s Defence Ministry referred to as the mission a “routine” effort in bolstering defence ties with Russia.
Moscow and Beijing are additionally presently creating strategic stealth bombers – China’s Xian H-20 and Russia’s nuclear-capable Tupolev PAK DA – that are anticipated to compete with the B-21.
Whereas the B-21 is able to taking to the air and not using a pilot, the US Air Pressure mentioned the plane is “provisioned for the chance, however there was no resolution to fly and not using a crew”.
“The B-21 Raider is the primary strategic bomber in additional than three a long time,” US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin mentioned in a ready assertion at Friday’s occasion.
Austin touted the plane’s vary and superior design.
“No different long-range bomber can match its effectivity,” Austin mentioned.
Unveiled right this moment, the B-21 Raider shall be a dual-capable, penetrating-strike stealth bomber able to delivering each standard and nuclear munitions. The B-21 will type the spine of the long run Air Pressure bomber pressure consisting of B-21s and B-52s.(U.S. Air Pressure photograph) pic.twitter.com/X6KSU7sy6U
— U.S. Air Pressure (@usairforce) December 3, 2022
“Fifty years of advances in low-observable expertise have gone into this plane,” he mentioned.
“Even probably the most refined air defence techniques will wrestle to detect the B-21 within the sky.”
The B-21, which carries an analogous “flying wing” form to its predecessor, shall be able to carrying standard and nuclear weapons world wide utilizing long-range and midair refuelling capabilities.
Northrop Grumman has hailed the brand new planes as “the spine of our future bomber pressure”.
The aerospace and design firm mentioned the long-range bomber’s first flight is anticipated to happen in 2023. Six of the long-range bombers are in varied levels of meeting and testing at its facility in California.