The second B-21 Raider rolled off the Northrop Grumman manufacturing line and took to the skies at 8 a.m. on September 11, accompanied by an F-16 escort that stayed shut like a bodyguard. This was the second this system shifted from primary checks on wings and engines to loading up weapons and fine-tuning the programs that can enable this bomber to sneak by way of defenses undetected.
After a clear touchdown at Edwards Air Power Base, the airplane taxied to a cease in entrance of a gaggle of 912th Upkeep Squadron airmen who rushed in to safe it. The airplane flew its first flight and not using a hitch and officers declared it successful. To be cautious and collect knowledge on low-speed conduct, the touchdown gear remained down for a lot of the flight. Now parked subsequent to its twin, Cerberus, which has been flying twice every week since final yr, the 2 make up the inspiration of a rising check fleet that’s beginning to really feel like an actual operation.
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The Air Power can divide and conquer when there are two birds within the air. Cerberus is reiterating the fundamentals: the Raider can fly by way of turbulence, flip in tight areas and lengthen its wings earlier than they attain their max. The brand new chicken is taking over a harder job: exhibiting off the internal workings of the machine. This Monday, Northrop Grumman reps stated the second airplane can have a cleaner configuration for weapons testing as a substitute of the probe-and-cone setup used within the first flight final yr. It’ll quickly be carrying a mock payload of the AGM-181 Lengthy-Vary Stand-Off cruise missile, the B61 nuclear gravity bomb and even the primary fashions of the upcoming massive penetrator warhead designed to crack open hardened bunkers deep underground.
You’ll be able to see why these assessments are so vital by trying on the Raider’s strains. It’s a bit smaller than the outdated B-2, 132 toes throughout the wings, however each curve has a function: to maintain the profile low and the signature small by scattering radar pings like mud within the wind. The one flat areas on the stomach are the bomb bays, that are blanked out to forestall spoilers. Two Pratt & Whitney PW9000 engines, turbofans with out afterburner and designed for silent effectivity above pace, present the ability. From bases again residence it could possibly get to anyplace on the map with a 20,000 pound payload that tops out at Mach 0.8 and doesn’t want mid-air refueling. Vary is assessed however whispers say it’s north of the B-2’s 6,000 nautical miles, sufficient to circle threats all day with out breaking a sweat.
Synthetic intelligence-infused flight computer systems handle the autopilot, so crews can program missions the place a pilot rides alongside optionally or the plane flies solo for durations of time the place accuracy is extra vital than endurance. Like over-the-air updates on your telephone, software program updates hold sensors and weapons present towards altering defenses. Northrop has been pounding this level in floor assessments utilizing further airframes—non-flyers that undergo simulated lifetimes of takeoffs, landings and fight runs. Outcomes are constantly above expectations, so this can be a workhorse that can be able to take over when the B-1s and B-2s retire within the 2030s slightly than simply one other costly plane.
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