USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

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richelieu
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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 23 aprile 2022, 14:56

Alcune strutture a supporto della prima unità B-21 Raider presso la base aerea di Ellsworth, saranno pronte entro il 2024 ...
Some facilities supporting the first B-21 Raider unit at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., are to be ready by 2024, according to Air Force budget request documents, indicating the service anticipates a swift test and evaluation program for the new aircraft.
The Air Force announced last year that Ellsworth is to be the initial B-21 operating base and the formal training unit, or “schoolhouse,” for the bomber.
The base now hosts the B-1B Lancer.
According to justifications (the so-called “J-Books”) in the Air Force’s fiscal 2023 budget, just released, three military construction projects at Ellsworth are requested for a collective $328 million, including a Low Observables Restoration Facility, a Weapons Generation Facility, and a Radio Frequency Facility.

airforcemag.comSome B-21 Bomber Facilities at Ellsworth to be Ready for 2024

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 27 aprile 2022, 0:10

Dove si parla di costi e di numeri ...
Ma, su questi ultimi, si fanno solo ipotesi ...
The Air Force expects to spend close to $20 billion on producing the B-21 Raider through fiscal 2027, but it doesn’t say how many of the advanced bombers it will buy for that cost.
Including research and development, USAF will spend more than $32 billion on the Raider through fiscal 2027, according to service budget documents.
airforcemag.comProducing New B-21 Bomber Will Cost $20 Billion Through 2027

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 29 aprile 2022, 15:44

B-21 Raider ... l'USAF sta accelerando il programma ma, secondo il vicepresidente esecutivo e capo dell'ufficio finanziario di Northop Grumman David Keffer, i costi degli aerei di produzione a tariffa piena "devono ancora essere negoziati" ...
The Air Force is accelerating the B-21 program, Northrop Grumman President and Chief Executive Officer Kathy Warden told reporters on a quarterly earnings call.
The Air Force apparently permitted Northrop to discuss more of the highly classified program’s progress than in recent years.
Warden, talking with financial reporters April 28, said “the government is looking at layering” production of the Raider “on top of” its development phase.
Despite the acknowledgement that the program is speeding up, production rates on the B-21 remain classified, she said.
She noted that the B-21 effort has been successful enough to warrant a $67 million performance incentive fee for meeting an unnamed target in the first quarter.
Inflation has been playing havoc with other companies’ earnings because of fixed-price contracts, and to allay investor concerns, Warden also pointed out that while low-rate initial production of the B-21 is fixed-price, development is not.
Moreover, costs for full-rate production aircraft “have yet to be negotiated,” said David Keffer, Northop Grumman’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.
As for the production phase, “you can think of that as notionally around the ’25-’26 timeframe - he middle part of the decade,” Warden said.
airforcemag.comNew B-21 Raider Being Accelerated With Overlapping Development and Production

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 29 aprile 2022, 15:53

Da "Flight International" ...
Northrop Grumman beats Q1 estimates, reveals B-21 details ...
By Ryan Finnerty - 28 April 2022

Defence contractor Northrop Grumman beat earnings estimates for the first quarter of 2022 and predicts faster growth later in the year.
Chief executive Kathy Warden says the Virginia-based manufacturer was not materially impacted by pandemic-related headwinds that have created significant supply chain and labour challenges for rivals like Boeing.
Although the reported earnings of $955 million in the first three months of 2022 are a substantial decline from the $2.1 billion it logged in the same period last year, Northrop still beat expectations for the current period.
Other players in the defence industry have reported similar year-over-year declines.
Executives at Northrop struck an optimistic tone during a 28 April earnings call, saying they are on track to meet annual revenue targets and expect sales to accelerate in the second half of 2022.
Warden is particularly optimistic about the future impact of the B-21 Raider programme.
The Raider is a next-generation, nuclear-capable, long-range strategic bomber being developed by Northrop for the US Air Force (USAF).
Little is known about the secretive aircraft, other than it is intended to penetrate anti-access/area-denial air defences to launch precision strikes with either conventional or nuclear bombs.
The sky is the limit for the Raider programme, according to Northrop leaders.
On the 28 April earnings call, chief financial officer David Keffer revealed that the company received a $67 million incentive payment from the US government tied to performance on the project.
He also notes that the fiscal year 2023 proposed defence budget from the Biden administration marks the first time funds were requested for B-21 procurement, rather than for just research and development.
Warden says the first B-21 is now undergoing ground testing with the USAF, with test flights expected to follow.
Five additional test aircraft are in various stages of development.
The B-21 is expected to enter limited production next year.
During that period, the government will purchase individual aircraft at contractually set prices.
When the programme ultimately enters full production, Northrop and the USAF will negotiate a final per-unit price for B-21s.
Warden notes this provides a hedge against inflationary pressure in the supply chain.
Northrop expects full production to begin in 2026, with the B-21 fleet reaching initial operating capacity in 2029.
The new stealth bomber is a major pillar of Northrop’s defence business strategy, with executives projecting “robust funding” for the programme in years to come, although Warden notes that specifics on the procurement plan remain classified.
The B-21 represents one leg of the USA’s so-called “nuclear triad” of bombers, submarines and land-based ballistic missiles – all being capable of launching nuclear strikes.
Northrop is also under contract to develop the next generation of ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) for the USAF, which replace the long-serving Minuteman III ICBM.
The company also expects to see solid earnings from its various roles in the production of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and from sales of its E-2D Hawkeye aerial command and control aircraft.
Northrop says the E-2 programme will be dependent on foreign sales for revenue after 2025, but notes there is already strong interest overseas.
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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 21 maggio 2022, 14:56

Posposizione ...
Without explanation, the Air Force now says the first B-21 bomber will not make its first flight until 2023, pushing back at least six months from the previously expected timetable.
“Recently, the Air Force released a new estimate for first flight; projected for next year, 2023,” a service spokeswoman said May 20.
The service said it’s trying to be as “transparent” as it can be about the project, and “this estimate reflects the current status of the program.”
She did not attribute the delay to any particular cause.
Many other high-profile programs, such as Boeing’s T-7A trainer, have recently reported delays due to supply chain issues and labor shortages.
The B-21 “remains within its acquisition program baseline for cost, schedule, and performance established at Milestone B award, which was based on an independent government estimate for the program,” the spokeswoman said.
airforcemag.comB-21 Raider First Flight Now Postponed to 2023

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 24 maggio 2022, 1:03

I lavori di messa a punto del B-21 continuano e, nonostante i ritardi accumulati, la data del "rollout" sembra essere imminente ...
Loads testing on the first B-21 Raider bomber is progressing well and matching computer predictions, and a rollout will closely follow completion of these tests and final equipment installs in the coming weeks, the program director said.
“The data we are seeing back from the loads calibration has been very promising and consistent with digital models,” said Randall Walden, director of USAF’s Rapid Capabilities Office, which is developing the B-21.
“We will complete these tests in the coming weeks and conduct a series of final systems installs and coatings before ultimately moving into flight line ground test operations after rollout,” Walden said through a spokesperson.
His comments indicate that there will be a formal rollout outside Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., assembly plant before the B-21 test activities begin.
airforcemag.comLoads Data for New B-21 Stealth Bomber Confirms Digital Models; Rollout May Be Weeks Away

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 12 agosto 2022, 12:25

Ieri RID ha lanciato, nella sua homepage, questo annuncio ... "Cancellato il progetto del wingman per il B-21" ...
Peccato che tale notizia risalga a quasi un mese fa :mrgreen: ...
Last year, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall made headlines when he announced plans to develop a drone counterpart for the still-yet-to be unveiled B-21 stealth bomber.
Now, it appears the project is dead before it ever got off the ground.
“The idea of a similar range collaborative combat aircraft is not turning out to be cost effective, so it looks like we’re not going to go that direction,” he told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview at the Royal International Air Tattoo.
After doing some analysis, the idea appears to be “less attractive than we thought it might be,” Kendall said, with the reasoning coming down to value.
Bombers are by nature large planes — not only so they can carry large weapons payloads, but so they can fly at the long ranges needed for an aircraft to conduct a strategic strike anywhere in the world.
But that size can drive cost, and in the end, the Air Force determined it wasn’t worth developing an unmanned B-21 counterpart that would be comparable in size to a large bomber.
breakingdefense.comEXCLUSIVE: Air Force scraps B-21 drone wingman concept

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 20 settembre 2022, 23:51

Il rollout del B-21 Raider avverrà entro la fine del mese di Dicembre, ma, al momento, non è dato sapere quanta parte del velivolo verrà concesso di vedere ...
The B-21 Raider will roll out of Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., plant in early December, Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter said Sept. 20, but how much of the airplane will be visible remains to be seen.
During a press conference at AFA’s Air, Space and Cyber event in National Harbor, Md., Hunter said the new bomber will emerge from the factory “the first week of December,” meeting USAF’s forecast to roll it out this year.
Air Force officials have said supply chain and other issues delayed the rollout from occurring sooner.
When asked if the entire aircraft will be revealed at the rollout, Maj. Gen. Jason R. Armagost, Global Strike Command’s director of strategic plans, programs and requirements, told Air and Space Forces Magazine, “probably not.”
“You probably won’t see it from all aspects,” he said.
The Air Force doesn’t want China and other potential adversaries any more information about the aircraft than is necessary.
He declined to say whether features of the airplane will be concealed with tarps, or whether the aircraft will only be visible through a hangar door.
A Northrop spokesman said “it will not be a limited reveal,” but as with the B-2, photographs will be restricted from some angles.
As to when first flight is expected, neither Hunter nor Armagost would be specific, saying that flight testing will be event-driven.
When the B-2 bomber was rolled out in 1988, attendees were oriented such that they did not have a view of the rear deck of the aircraft, which featured an innovative new exhaust system to mask the jet’s infrared signature.
However, journalists (nota: AW&ST) flew a small airplane to fly over the plant and photographed it from above, making the concealment moot.
The features were further exposed when taxi tests began.
airandspaceforces.comFirst B-21 ‘Rollout‘ Planned for Early December

Anche qui … defensenews.comA first look at the B-21 Raider bomber is coming soon

Comunicato stampa … news.northropgrumman.comNorthrop Grumman to Unveil the B-21 Raider

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 21 settembre 2022, 15:34

Oltre al fatto che ancora non si sa cosa verrà fatto vedere del B-21 in occasione del rollout ... si fanno tuttora illazioni su quali siano le sue reali dimensioni ...
Illustrations and renderings released by the Air Force show that the B-21 is a flying wing aircraft similar to the Northrop B-2, but with a V-shaped trailing edge instead of the Spirit’s sawtooth design.
But the renderings stop short of providing an exact sense of the size of the B-21 relative to the B-2, although the Raider is generally expected to be a smaller aircraft.
aviationweek.comB-21 Bomber Rollout Set For Early December

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 28 settembre 2022, 17:24

Una notizia, risalente allo scorso Agosto, che era passata pressoché inosservata ...
Gli Stati Uniti sarebbero disposti a fornire i bombardieri B-21 all'Australia ...
A senior Washington official has indicated that the United States would consider providing Australia with B-21 Raider long-range bombers, if Canberra requested them.
US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall was hosted in Canberra this week by the new chief of the Royal Australian Air Force, Air Marshal Robert Chipman. The two fielded questions at a media briefing.
It has long been accepted that the US wouldn’t provide allies such as Australia with platforms such as nuclear-powered submarines and certain aircraft such as the formidable and stealthy F-22 fighter.
At least in the case of submarines, the rapidly deteriorating global strategic situation brought a dramatic change in that thinking with the AUKUS agreement a year ago.
The AUKUS partnership opened the way for the UK and US to help Australia obtain the submarines and to collaborate on a range of other defence capabilities.
Asked by The Strategist if the US would consider allowing Australia to join its development of the B-21 to provide the RAAF with a long-range strike capability, Kendall said that, generally speaking, Australia acquired the weapon systems it needed for its defence.
‘And I think the United States, in general, would be willing to talk to Australia about anything that there was an interest in from the Australian perspective that we could help them with.’
aspistrategist.org.auSenior US official says Washington would consider supplying B-21 bombers to Australia

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 15 ottobre 2022, 10:50

Il pensionamento dei B-1 e dei B-2 dipenderà dai progressi del B-21 ...
Initial planning has begun for the retirement of the B-1 and B-2 bombers, but the game plan depends largely on progress in fielding the B-21 Raider - and on Congress - the Air Force’s bomber program executive officer said.
“The approach we’re taking” on the road to a two-bomber force for Air Force Global Strike Command is “maintaining our current capability and readiness in terms of our near-peer adversary” as the B-21 ramps up, said Col. (Brig. Gen. select) William S. Rogers in a recent interview.
“At this point the team’s really focused on maintaining that readiness, availability, survivability, and operational capability” for the B-1 and B-2 “while we get ready for the B-21 fielding.”
In an Air Force bomber roadmap from 2018, the service planned to retire the B-1 and B-2 in the 2031-2032 timeframe, but USAF has not updated those plans publicly since.
Long-term, AFGSC plans to field “at least 100” B-21s and 75 B-52s.
airandspaceforces.comEarly Planning for B-1, B-2 Retirements Depends on B-21 Progress

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 21 ottobre 2022, 1:15

Segnate questa data sul calendario ... 2 Dicembre 2022 ...
Mark your calendar.
The Air Force’s next stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, will be revealed to the public in California on Dec. 2.
Northrop Grumman, the company building the B-21, announced the date in a tweet Thursday.
The rollout will take place at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Palmdale, California.
The company said in September that six test bombers were in various stages of final assembly there.
But the company and the Air Force have shared few details of the rollout.
Northrop Grumman’s announcement included a short video that showed a shrouded B-21 being illuminated with floodlights, and the date.
defensenews.comComing soon: The official rollout of the secretive B-21

Anche qui … airandspaceforces.comRoll Out of Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., Plant on Dec. 2

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 28 novembre 2022, 21:41

Ormai ci siamo ...
Il nuovo bombardiere furtivo B-21 verrà presentato al pubblico fra pochi giorni.
Quali sono, dunque, le le sue prospettive?
The Dec. 2 rollout of the B-21 Raider will mark the world’s first glimpse at a bomber that manufacturer Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force see as a generational leap in aircraft technology and development.
The B-21 — the Air Force’s first new bomber in more than three decades — will be advanced enough to qualify as a sixth-generation aircraft, Tom Jones, president of Northrop Grumman’s Aeronautics Systems unit, said in a Nov. 22 interview with Defense News.
The technology used in the B-21′s testing — and the Air Force’s decision to conduct its flight tests with a production-representative aircraft instead of an experimental model — could provide a path forward for more rapid, less risky aircraft acquisitions in the future, Jones added.
He explained that the B-21′s advancements in stealth capabilities, use of open-systems architecture, and inclusion of Joint All-Domain Command and Control technologies to share data across platforms will make it “the first of the sixth-gen systems.”
JADC2 is the Pentagon’s effort to connect sensors to shooters across domains of warfare.
The debut of this B-21 — numbered 001 and referred to as T1, for the first flight test aircraft — at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, will mark the beginning of a major phase in the bomber’s development.
Since the spring, Northrop Grumman has continued with the first bomber’s testing, final assembly, and application of coatings and paint to get it ready for the public.
defensenews.comNorthrop’s B-21 is almost here. What’s next for the stealthy bomber?

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 29 novembre 2022, 17:25

Da AW&ST un podcast sull'avvenimento con relativa trascrizione ...
On Dec. 2, the U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman will roll out the service’s first new stealth bomber in more than three decades.
Listen in as Aviation Week defense editors discuss what details they are hoping to see and what is likely to come next for the B-21 Raider.
aviationweek.comPodcast: A Guide To The B-21 Rollout

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 1 dicembre 2022, 0:31

B-21 Raider, nell'imminenza della presentazione pubblica, Northrop Grumman rivela nuovi dettagli ...
Days before the first B-21 Raider is set to emerge from Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., factory, the company revealed new details about the seven-year-old, largely classified bomber program.
Northrop described complementary elements of the B-21 “family of systems”; confirmed a “digital twin” version of the aircraft; and, in a break with previous programs, eliminated the “block upgrade” approach to modernization.
The airplane is due to roll out of Plant 42 on Dec. 2, with its first flight forecast in mid-2023.
The bomber “has … been designed as the lead component of a larger family of systems that will deliver intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic attack and multi-domain networking capabilities,” the company said in a Nov. 29 release (*).
airandspaceforces.comNorthrop Grumman Offers New B-21 Raider Details Ahead of Rollout

(*)news.northropgrumman.com10 Facts About Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Raider

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 2 dicembre 2022, 21:04

Ultime sul B-21 ... mentre si avvicina l'ora della presentazione ...
The Air Force and Northrop Grumman are set to roll out the service’s first new bomber in 34 years on Dec. 2 - the B-21 Raider .
In an eagerly awaited ceremony at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., the B-21 will make its public debut after seven years of development behind the scenes and only a few artists’ renderings.
The invitation-only event will include Air Force and political dignitaries and a limited number of media representatives.
Photography will be permitted, but the Air Force is restricting the size of lenses photographers can use, and viewing of the aircraft will be limited to one section of the facility.
A live stream of the event is slated to begin at 7:20 p.m. Eastern time, 4:20 p.m. Pacific time, and can be viewed ...
airandspaceforces.comWATCH LIVE: B-21 Raider to Make Public Debut This Evening

airandspaceforces.comB-21 to Be Capable of Holding at Risk Any Target on Earth

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 3 dicembre 2022, 9:44

B-21 ... molto sul nuovo bombardiere dell'USAF rimane senza risposta dopo la presentazione pubblica ...
The Air Force rolled out its new B-21 Raider on Dec. 2 in a nighttime ceremony contrived to keep many details of the flying wing aircraft difficult to see but apparently timed to coincide with a new report on Chinese military capabilities.
Senior defense leaders speaking at the event praised the new bomber as the cornerstone of American deterrence capability for decades to come.
The event did not provide much new information about the B-21’s capabilities, though; no further programmatic details, such as the planned production rate, or even how many engines power the bomber, were disclosed.
Aircraft 00001 was rolled forward, still covered with a tarpaulin, from a hangar at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., plant before dignitaries, the press, and some 2,000 workers.
Applause erupted when the tarpaulin was removed, revealing an aircraft looking somewhat like the B-2 bomber but also like a flying saucer, with a deep keel and eccentric windows.
A flyover of B-52, B-1B, and B-2 bombers in the darkening skies over the plant preceded the rollout.

airandspaceforces.comMuch About the Air Force’s New B-21 Bomber Remains Unanswered Following Reveal

Anche qui … defensenews.com‘Deterrence the American way’: The new B-21 bomber debuts

E qui … thedrive.com/the-war-zoneThis Is The B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber

E qui … aviationweek.comNorthrop, U.S. Air Force Roll Out the B-21 Raider

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 3 dicembre 2022, 17:41

Un commento da ... Flightglobal.com ...
Northrop Grumman reveals B-21 test aircraft as stealth programme roars toward first flight ...

By Ryan Finnerty, Palmdale, California - 3 December 2022

A veil of secrecy has finally been lifted from Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Raider – the next-generation stealth bomber under development for the US Air Force (USAF).
Joined by senior members of the US Defense Department, Northrop revealed what it describes as the world’s first sixth-generation military aircraft on 2 December at its development facility in Palmdale, California.
“The B-21 looks imposing”, says US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin, the streamlined swept-wing aircraft parked behind him.
“But what is underneath the frame and space-age coating is even more imposing.”
The unveiling comes some 34 years after the B-21’s predecessor and current USAF strategic stealth bomber, Northrop’s B-2 Spirit, made its first public appearance – also at the defence contractor’s Palmdale prototyping and testing facility, which sits on the USAF’s Plant 42 site northeast of Los Angeles.
Northrop chief executive Kathy Warden says the defence contractor drew heavily on its decades of experience building and maintaining the B-2, and calls the B-21 “the most-capable stealth bomber ever built”.
The Raider brings back the “flying-wing” design of its predecessor.
Warden notes Northrop settled on the final B-21 design after exploring thousands of options to meet the USAF’s requirements for cost and low-observability.
“The flying wing is the best alternative for meeting those requirements and affordability targets”, Warden says.
The aircraft features an unconventional window layout for the cockpit, and its engine intakes are also greatly recessed.
Placing the intakes above the fuselage, also a feature of the B-2, makes it harder for ground-based radars to detect the jet’s engine signature.
The B-21 test aircraft remained in a hangar during the Palmdale revealing event, precluding examination of the jet’s trailing edge and engine exhaust.
The USAF has set a price target of $500 million per airframe, valued in 2010 dollars.
That works out to $631 million in 2022 values. Warden says Northrop is on track to meet that goal.
General Charles Brown, USAF chief of staff, says that price ceiling is critical to ensuring his service is able to build-out a sufficiently deep B-21 fleet.
“One hundred is the number we’re shooting for”, says Brown of the USAF’s acquisition target.
“It will be the backbone of our bomber fleet.”
”We had a very firm cost target,” adds USAF acquisition chief Andrew Hunter.
“That will allow us to meet our number needs.”
Hunter insists focus on price does not come at the cost of the aircraft’s low-observability requirements, which he calls “central to the design process”.
Northrop aims to complete the B-21’s first flight in 2023, using what it calls a “production representative aircraft”.
The company has six B-21 airframes in various stages of production and testing.
Delivery of the first aircraft is projected for the mid-2020’s.
The USAF has selected Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota as the preferred location for its B-21 main operating base, and aims to reach initial operating capability on the programme before the end of the decade.
The B-21 is the USAF’s first new combat aircraft since 2016, and only its fourth new crewed, combat aircraft in 32 years.
Service leaders say the platform will be a critical tool of deterrence, and if necessary combat power, for decades.
“Even the most-significant air defence systems will struggle to detect the B-21 in the sky,” says Austin.
He adds that the type’s advanced sensor systems will allow it to play an important role in other realms of warfare, including intelligence and battlefield management.
Hunter says Raider “will allow us to carry out our missions in the Indo-Pacific, and anywhere in the world”.
Retired Major General Doug Raaberg, a former B-2 pilot and current executive vice-president of the Air and Space Forces Association (AFA), predicts the new bomber will become “the essential backbone of US national security strategy”.
“Its ability to get in, stay in and kill targets – to hold targets at risk – is how we deter potential adversaries from taking the chance of war with the United States and our allies,” Raaberg says.
While Raider appears to share features with the antecedent B-2, its manufacturer says the new aircraft has substantial upgrades.
Speaking at the 2022 AFA conference in September, Northrop vice-president Thomas Jones said the flight computer that powers the B-21 represents a “leap forward” that will allow for faster and easier modernisation upgrades over the aircraft’s lifespan.
Engineers designed the aircraft for ease of maintenance, making it a “daily flyer”, Jones added.
“We took lessons learned from the B-2… in maintaining stealth platforms.”
The B-2 – priced at $2.2 billion per airframe – requires a costly and labour-intensive regimen of regular maintenance to retain its stealthy surface and low-observable profile.
An expert with Northrop’s B-2 programme tells FlightGlobal each Spirit bomber requires a substantial overhaul every nine years, including complete resurfacing of the airframe’s radar absorbent coating.
That process can take up to a year to complete.
The world now has a view of the B-21, but much about the programme remains unknown.
Though the USAF aims purchase at least 100 B-21s, long lead times for new military aircraft can leave early plans subject to change amid budgetary politics in Washington and evolving geopolitical factors.
The USAF ultimately only acquired 20 B-2 Spirits despite initial plans for many more.
Those reductions, which were driven in part by the B-2’s soaring per unit cost, were a major influence on the USAF’s focus on controlling B-21 costs.
Some observers foresee the need for an even larger B-21 fleet than the current USAF target.
“We need a bomber force of at least 200 aircraft,” said retired Boeing B-52 pilot Mark Gunzinger, now with the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, at an event in September.
He and other B-21 supporters describe the aircraft as critical for deterrence, particularly in the Indo-Pacific theatre.
Northrop says 90% of the USA’s current bomber fleet is incapable of “penetrating enemy air defences and reaching targets anywhere in the world”.
The existing fleet includes 43 Rockwell B-1B Lancer non-nuclear bombers, 72 B-52s and 18 operational B-2s – a total 133 aircraft.
The USAF ultimately intends for B-21s to replace those three types.
Randall Walden, director of the USAF Rapid Capabilities Office, in May described the B-21 test aircraft as the “most-production-representative aircraft, both structurally and in its mission systems, at this point in a programme, that I have seen in my career”.
USAF acquisitions chief Hunter says Northrop and other suppliers are equipped to meet the 100 aircraft goal, with some room to expand production further.
One thing that is abundantly clear: Washington policy makers want the world to know the USA will soon have the Raider in its arsenal, and with it, the ability to respond anywhere in the world.
“We are again making it plain to any foe”, says Austin.
“The risks and costs of aggression far outweigh any gains”.
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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 3 dicembre 2022, 18:09

A margine di questa discussione ... la storia di uno scoop fotografico ...
William B. Scott, who retired from Aviation Week as Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief in 2006, talked to Guy Norris about the story behind late senior engineering editor Michael A. Dornheim’s legendary overhead photo scoop at the rollout of the B-2 bomber at Northrop’s facilities in Palmdale, California, in November 1988.
In the weeks leading up to the rollout, Scott, Dornheim and Los Angeles Bureau Chief Bruce Smith discussed the challenge of how to take good views of the B-2’s trailing edge–a novel feature of the stealthy aircraft disclosed by the U.S. Air Force in a rendering that April which they knew would be kept away from the direct line-of-sight of the official viewing area.
“One of the driving functions to get us into this mode was, ‘Hey, if they were going to pull this thing out of the hangar into the open, I can guarantee the Russians are going to have a satellite overhead. And if the powers that be don’t care if the Russians see the trailing edge, why should they care about the American people?’”
“We knew we’d take hits,” Scott said, “but that was our logic.”
aviationweek.comThe Story Behind Aviation Week’s B-2 Rollout Photo Scoop

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 4 dicembre 2022, 0:35

Un'ulteriore fonte ...
During the carefully managed live-streamed ceremony the drapes were lifted off the B-21 as it was towed out of its hangar, before being pushed back in again.
The late evening timing may have been chosen to avoid any inadvertent photography of the aircraft’s rear end: during the roll-out ceremony of the B-2 in November 1988 Aviation Week obtained aerial photos of the B-2 from a light aircraft.
ainonline.comU.S. Air Force Unveils B-21 Raider Sixth-Generation Bomber

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 4 dicembre 2022, 1:04

Pare che l'esemplare presentato ieri potrebbe non essere il primo a volare ...
The first flight of the B-21 isn't expected until 2023.
Six models are currently in various stages of final development at Northrop Grumman's facility in Palmdale, California.
The aircraft shown at the tightly-controlled unveiling ceremony on Friday (Dec. 2) will be first used for ground testing of its engines and subsystems before any of the advanced bombers take to the sky.
space.comUS Air Force unveils new B-21 Raider stealth bomber, most advanced military aircraft ever

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 4 dicembre 2022, 16:08

Da "Il Giornale" di oggi ...
4 Dicembre 2022 - 06:00
Presentato il nuovo cacciabombardiere fantasma "B-21 Raider": potrà trasportare testate nucleari, la flotta costerà 700 miliardi.
È l'ultima frontiera della deterrenza con Pechino
New York.
L'amministrazione Biden compie un ulteriore passo in avanti sulla politica di deterrenza nella regione Indo-Pacifica inaugurando un nuovo cacciabombardiere «fantasma» in grado di trasportare sia testate nucleari che convenzionali.
L'aeronautica militare statunitense ha presentato il nuovo B-21 Raider, che sostituirà gradualmente i primi aerei della Guerra Fredda, nel corso di una cerimonia presso lo stabilimento 42 di Northrop Grumman (azienda specializzata in tecnologie aerospaziali e di difesa) a Palmdale, in California.
Secondo i media Usa il nuovo bombardiere nucleare «stealth» (ovvero in grado di sfuggire ai sistemi di intercettazione radar) potrebbe costare quasi 700 milioni di dollari a velivolo, e l'US Air Force ha in programma di acquistarne almeno cento.
I dettagli tecnici rimangono riservati, ma il segretario alla Difesa Lloyd Austin ha dichiarato che si tratta di «una testimonianza dei vantaggi duraturi dell'America in termini di ingegno e innovazione».
ilgiornale.it/newsGli USA avvisano la Cina

Definire il B-21 un "cacciabombardiere" mi sembra un tantinèllo azzardato ...

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 6 dicembre 2022, 0:09

Otto caratteristiche che mostrano che il B-21 Raider non è il B-2.1 ...
The unveiling of the new B-21 bomber was staged to keep many of its innovations under wraps, but more than 34 years of technological advances since the B-2’s 1988 rollout were clearly in evidence.
A senior Northrop Grumman official, briefing reporters before the Dec. 2 rollout of the B-21, called the aircraft “the most advanced stealth aircraft ever built,” with heavy emphasis on making it a “daily flyer,” meaning its maintenance has been streamlined such that it can perform multiple sorties per day without extensive touchups of its stealth features.
Although the official said the majority of what makes the B-21 a “sixth-generation” combat aircraft is “on the inside,” a number of external features point to its evolution from the technology of the B-2, which is also a stealthy flying wing.

airandspaceforces.comEight Features That Show the New Raider is Not the B-2.1

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Messaggio da richelieu » 6 dicembre 2022, 17:35

Prego, favorisca i documenti !!! :cop: ...
When it came time to roll out the Air Force’s new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, the line between public transparency and revealing too much information was barely visible to the naked eye.
“Down 2 inches,” a Northrop Grumman-jacketed security official firmly said to one of half a dozen press photographers, whose camera tripod slightly exceeded a 6-foot guideline.
“Up an inch, you’re too low,” another photographer was told a little later, as dusk turned to nighttime and natural light faded.
The unveiling of the Northrop Grumman-made bomber at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on Dec. 2 was a tightly stage-managed event, one designed to conceal as much as reveal.
The Air Force set the security requirements for the ceremony to protect the technology on the Raider, and worked with Northrop Grumman — which organized the event — to ensure everyone knew the parameters.
During the weeks leading up to the event, officials debated how much to show while maintaining the security to protect the bomber’s secrets from Chinese or Russian eyes.
The unveiling took place at a highly classified facility, one which is rarely visited by reporters. Uniformed security forces airmen and agents from the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations scanned the crowd.
Visitors entered through full-height turnstile gates, and fences were topped with barbed wire to prevent intruders from climbing in.
It was a stark difference from the last such event, when the B-2 Spirit bomber was revealed at Plant 42 more than three decades ago.
defensenews.comFog machines, short lenses, no iPhones: Managing the B-21′s rollout

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 7 dicembre 2022, 0:46

"The Aviationist" ... una seconda analisi del B-21 Raider ...
Here’s our second analysis of the Northrop Grumman B-21 sixth generation stealth bomber.
It was short, sweet and stealthy.
The rollout ceremony for the new Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider was a well-produced but succinct event that hinted at more than it revealed.
The first major strategic bomber introduction in 34 years, the rollout ceremony at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, California facility featured political dignitaries, defense department officials, Air Force officers, enlisted personnel and a large group of employees responsible for the B-21 Raider program.
But the bashful star of the show was one mysterious looking gray bomber with very small engine intakes, unusual looking cockpit windows, and a wide, fat belly.
There were absolutely no views of the B-21 Raider from the rear, top or side of the aircraft.
In almost every respect, the B-21 Raider rollout revealed no significant surprises from the artist renderings of the aircraft that have been in the public domain for years.
As most analysts predicted, the majority of new capabilities for the B-21 Raider reside deeply concealed under its rumored-to-be new low observable coatings, within the millions (billions?) of lines of code that run its systems and a suite of sensors and network-enabled electronic and weapons capabilities that would be more at home in a science fiction novel than a current day aircraft.
Given the immense operational security that has surrounded the B-21 program, it’s likely the first adversary to learn about the true operational capabilities of the Raider will never survive to talk about them.
theaviationist.comLet’s Have A Closer Look At The B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 12 dicembre 2022, 16:07

Nessun problema per i piloti collaudatori del B-21 riguardo gli "strani" finestrini del velivolo ...
... test pilot Lt. Col. Clifton Bell said that from what he’s seen, the B-21′s windshields aren’t effectively that much different from the B-2, and shouldn’t be a problem.
“Your body is very good at adjusting,” said Bell, who is in charge of the test organization at Edwards Air Force Base in California and previously flew the B-2 in his career.
“When I first started flying the B-2, you noticed [its windows] the first flight, maybe the first hour, and then your mind is pretty good about separating what’s important, and what’s not important.
I’ve yet to fly with windows that I have any concerns about.”
Harrison said the window design choices were likely made in part to maximize the B-21′s stealth capability.
And as the B-21 was designed to be capable of being “optionally manned,” or flown remotely without a pilot, Harrison said there could be cameras or other sensors that could help broaden the pilots’ visibility, making wide windows less important.
defensenews.comB-21 test pilot: Odd windows? No problem

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 13 dicembre 2022, 17:03

Da AW&ST ... "Il resoconto settimanale: l'analisi del caso per l'acquisto dei B-21 da parte dell'Australia" ...
Australia’s defense budget this year is $33 billion (A$48.7 billion).
About 23% of that budget is allocated to buying equipment, of which the top spenders now include new fleets of 72 F-35As, nine Hunter-class (Type 26) frigates, 14 P-8As and 211 Boxer armored fighting vehicles.
Canberra’s investment portfolio is deep, but possibly not complete.
An ongoing Defense Security Review led by Stephen Smith and Angus Houston is reportedly considering the acquisition of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider within the next decade.
A newly released 56-page report (*) by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) recommends as “worthy of further examination” an estimated $16.9-$18.9 billion (A$25-28 billion) proposal to buy 12 stealth bombers, enough to stand up one squadron on Australian soil.
The authors - ASPI senior analyst Marcus Hellyer and Andrew Nicholls, a former senior advisor to Australian defense ministers - acknowledge a proposal to spend the equivalent of roughly half of Australia’s annual defense budget over the next 10 years on a dozen aircraft is provocative.
They concede there may be other solutions than an Australian-owned fleet of stealth bombers.
But a B-21 acquisition remains intriguing in Canberra.
aviationweek.comThe Weekly Debrief: Analyzing Case For Australian B-21 Buy

(*)ad-aspi.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/‘Impactful projection’: long-range strike options for Australia

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 17 dicembre 2022, 17:01

B-21 Raider ... un paio di aggiornamenti ...

Araldicaairandspaceforces.comNew B-21 Test Aircraft Heraldry, Barely Visible at Rollout, Revealed

Combinazioniairandspaceforces.comAir Force Vice Chief: B-21 Not Just a Bomber, Will Mesh with JADC2, NGAD

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 13 gennaio 2023, 15:54

Il B-21 Raider è e non è un "B-2 Spirit 2.0" ...
Immediately following the glitzy rollout of the B-21 Raider at Northrop Grumman's secure facility at Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, the hot takes started piling up.
"It's just an updated B-2 Spirit" and "B-2 2.0, big deal" quickly became par for the course on social media.
I received a ton of inquiries from people genuinely asking if this is the great leap forward it was billed as or if the B-21 appeared to be just a 'rehashed Spirit.'
The answer to those types of questions is, well, complicated, but not in a bad way.
thedrive.com/the-war-zoneThe B-21 Raider Is And Isn’t A ‘B-2 Spirit 2.0’

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 29 gennaio 2023, 11:13

Secondo i dirigenti di Northrop Grumman il B-21 entrerà in produzione a basso ritmo nel 2023, mentre persistono preoccupazioni sull'inflazione ...
The B-21 program is on schedule and remains below government unit cost estimates, but inflation threatens its profitability for Northrop Grumman, company leaders said on their quarterly earnings call.
The program is also set to enter low-rate initial production, a phase it will likely remain in for the rest of the decade, they said.
“We continue to perform well on the program and remain on track for first flight later this year,” Northrop president, chair, and chief executive officer Kathy Warden said on the Jan. 26 call.
The first B-21 rolled out of Northrop’s Palmdale, Calif. plant in December 2022.
But “as the program transitions into low rate initial production (LRIP), we are working to address macroeconomic conditions, especially related to inflation and their impact on materiel suppliers and labor,” Warden said.
The first LRIP contract should be awarded this year, she added.
Chief Financial Officer Dave Keffer added that the company expects the program to have 10-to-20 basis point (0.1-0.2 percent) impact in 2023, when the “first of five LRIP” contracts are expected.
Those five contracts are “scheduled to run through approximately the end of the decade.”
More immediately, the program has felt the impact of inflation.
airandspaceforces.comNorthrop: B-21 to Enter Low-Rate Production in 2023, as Inflation Concerns Persist

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 7 febbraio 2023, 0:46

B-21: una forma del futuro tuttora avvolta nel mistero ,,,
Seven years in development, the B-21 will make its first flight sometime in 2023.
Northrop describes the new stealth jet as the “first sixth-generation combat aircraft,” and it will be the Air Force’s principal strategic strike asset for the bulk of the 21st century, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III, the featured speaker at the Palmdale, Calif., unveiling.
The curtain parted on the highly classified aircraft as Northrop begins outdoor engine runs, taxi tests, and works toward first flight.
Other details - its expected performance, range, weapons capacity, and other capabilities, even the number of engines beneath its stealthy skin - remain withheld, to keep adversaries guessing.
The nighttime rollout at Palmdale was stage-managed to keep the bomber’s details hidden in plain sight.
Everything from the lighting, the aircraft’s proximity to the invitation-only crowd, the types of cameras and lenses photographers were allowed to use, and the angle they were allowed to shoot from were designed to limit the insights experts could glean about the new airplane.
The Air Force plans to acquire at least 100 B-21s to replace its 45 B-1s and 20 B-2s over the next decade or so.
Including the 75 re-engined and upgraded B-52s, the bomber fleet will then number at least 175 aircraft, although Air Force Global Strike Command leaders have voiced a requirement for as many as 250 bombers overall.
The service has long held to the comment that the first B-21 will be available for combat use “in the mid-2020s.”

airandspaceforces.comB-21: Shape of the Future

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Re: USAF ..... verso un nuovo bombardiere strategico .....

Messaggio da richelieu » 11 marzo 2023, 16:17

L'USAF ha appena rilasciato nuove immagini del B-21 Raider ...
Two new photos, taken on Nov. 28, 2022 (that is to say, a few days before the official roll-out) but released only today, provide some more details about the new aircraft.
One, in particular provides a view from an elevated point of view of the aircraft, that allows us to see that the planform is probably not a cranked arrow wing similar to the one of the X-47B, as some shadows in the first official images seemed to suggest.
The stylized Northrop Grumman Flight test badge is also applied on the upper surface of the right hand side wing (close to the tip); the USAF roundel is on the left one.
Some “panels” are shown in the exhaust area of the aircraft, but the blended conformal engine nacelles are still not clearly visible.
The higher angle view provides a better view of the new inlets (despite the cover), that appear to have a very small frontal section but are larger than they initially appeared (part of the inlet seems to be recessed on the upper surface of the wing, forming a sort of “L”).
The other image, is a close up photo of the B-21’s nose that shows the “hawk’s-beak” profile of the new bomber: from a 3/4 oint of view, this seems to be quite similar to the one of the B-2.
theaviationist.comBREAKING: U.S. Air Force Has Just Released New B-21 Raider Images

Anche qui … airandspaceforces.comB-21 Will Be ‘Backbone’ of Bomber Fleet, AFGSC Boss Says as New Images Are Released

E qui … thedrive.com/the-war-zoneB-21 Raider Seen From Above In New Image

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