Northrop Grumman unveils B-21 Raider

As planned and reported by us, Northrop Grumman held a special ceremony at Palmdale (CA) on 2 December 2022, unveiling USAF's newest 6th generation stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, to the general public.

With six different B-21s in various stages of completion, the USAF and Northrop Grumman have confirmed that the bomber will take to the skies for the first time in 2023. 

The name Raider is a tribute to the Doolittle Raids of World War II when on 18 April 1942, sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers set out on a mission led by Lt. Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle to conduct a daring bombing mission on Tokyo. They managed to do this by taking off from an aircraft carrier.

Ellsworth AFB (SD) will become the base hosting the first B-21 squadron, with first bombers scheduled to arrive in the mid-2020s. Later, Dyess AFB (TX) and Whiteman AFB (MO) will follow.

Photos by Northrop Grumman.