Intro:
On December 2nd 2022, the USAF revealed its next generation of Bomber fleet, flying at 50 000 feet, ‘invisible’ to radar, with hundreds in production, which will replace the USA’s ageing bomber fleet, They revealed, The B21 Raider.
Performance:
Little is known about this new bomber, but we do know it cruises at 50,000 feet, and could even reach 70,000 feet. Being half the size of its older brother the B2 Spirit, it can only carry half the weaponry at around 30,000 lbs. The reason behind this was to Reduce the insane cost of its older brother.
Cost:
The B2 is and was an amazing bomber, but one massive drawback was the cost coming in at $2 Billion dollars per unit! While the B21 raider cannot boast as high a payload it can boast a much larger fleet having 4 B21 Raiders built to equal 1 B2 Spirit, this quantity over quality is a new approach for the USAF.
Why is it needed:
The ageing fleet of b52 and B1 bombers needs to be replaced to fit the new requirements for a Chinese and Russian threat, so the USAF decided to create a new contract for a digital bomber that instead of having systems replaced could rather have software updates. Making them a lot cheaper to maintain, so the B21 raider was born.
Written by James Thunstrom