The Air Drive’s new nuclear stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, has taken its first take a look at flight

WASHINGTON — The B-21 Raider took its first take a look at flight on Friday, shifting the futuristic warplane nearer to changing into the nation’s subsequent nuclear weapons stealth bomber.

The Raider flew in Palmdale, California, the place it has been beneath testing and growth by Northrop Grumman.

The Air Drive is planning to construct 100 of the warplanes, which have a flying wing form very similar to their predecessor the B-2 Spirit however will incorporate superior supplies, propulsion and stealth expertise to make them extra survivable in a future battle. The airplane is deliberate to be produced in variants with and with out pilots.

“The B-21 Raider is in flight testing,” Air Drive spokeswoman Ann Stefanek stated.

Such testing is a crucial step within the marketing campaign to supply “survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to discourage aggression and strategic assaults in opposition to america, allies, and companions,” Stefanek stated.

The B-21 Raider is the primary new American bomber plane in additional than 30 years, and nearly each side of this system is classed. Each Northrop Grumman and the Air Drive have tried to guard this system’s particulars to stop China from getting access to the weapon’s expertise and constructing the same model, because it has with different U.S. superior weapons programs just like the F-35 joint strike fighter.

The B-21 is a part of the Pentagon’s efforts to modernize all three legs of its nuclear triad, which incorporates silo-launched nuclear ballistic missiles and submarine-launched warheads, because it invests in new weapons to fulfill China’s fast army modernization.

Northrop Grumman Corp. relies in Falls Church, Virginia.