The USAF won’t buy more than 100 B-21 Raider bombers
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Apr. 16, 2024 that the US Air Force (USAF) won’t buy more than 100 B-21 Raider strategic bombers because it may come up with something better by the time all those aircraft are built.
While the B-21 “is the future of our bomber force,” Allvin told the SASC that fresher, more effective technology may appear before the planned B-21 production run is complete, making the Air Force hesitant to commit to any more just yet, Air & Space Forces Magazine reports.
One hundred B-21s “is the program of record,” Allvin said. Northrop Grumman is the B-21 prime contractor.
“I think we’re not going to reach that number until probably the mid-2030s and beyond,” he said. “I think there are other technological advancements that we would see to be able to augment that and have a better mix … before we commit to that as being the platform” that will serve as the backbone of the future bomber force “beyond that.”
USAF has stuck to 100 B-21 stealth bombers
The USAF has stuck to 100 B-21s as part of a fleet that also includes 75 B-52s and 45 B-1Bs until the early 2030s even though heads of Global Strike Command and various think tanks have voiced a requirement for as many as 225-250 Raiders. The USAF’s stated goal has been to neck down to just the B-21 and the B-52 as its bomber force.
Allvin did not elaborate on what other technologies the Air Force is considering to “augment” the B-21 force.
His comment that the full B-21 production run of 100 will not be achieved until the mid-to-late 2030s underscores that the bomber won’t be built at a very aggressive rate, suggesting an annual production of less than 10 airframes per year. Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante recently said that the B-21’s production rate was deliberately set at a low level to protect it from budget cuts.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, also testifying before the SASC, said the largely secret B-21 is “moving forward.”
“We’re pretty happy with the progress,” Kendall said. “I’m always very careful about saying positive things about programs and development … they all have risk.
But Kendall did express cautious optimism.
The “B-21 has been performing close to the original schedule and costs and delivering capability,” he said. “It’s in testing. We just had the milestone C approval to enter low-rate production.”
Low-rate initial production
LaPlante disclosed in January that Northrop Grumman has been awarded the low-rate initial production contract for the B-21 bomber, close on the heels of the airplane making its first flights.
“This past fall, based on the results of ground and flight tests and the team’s mature plans for manufacturing, I gave the go-ahead to begin producing B-21s at a low rate,” LaPlante said.
“Production of the B-21 ‘Raider’ stealth bomber is moving forward,” he added. “One of the key attributes of this program has been designing for production from the start—and at scale—to provide a credible deterrent to adversaries. If you don’t produce and field to warfighters at scale, the capability doesn’t really matter.”
LaPlante said that the contract was signed before the end of 2023 but the Pentagon did not supply the contract amount, the number of aircraft it covers, or the exact date it was awarded.
One of the key milestones necessary for Northrop to receive the contract was first flight, which was achieved on Nov. 10.
As explained by Air & Space Forces Magazine, two years ago, Kendall voiced the idea of developing an uncrewed adjunct to the B-21 in the conventional deep strike/nuclear mission, but later shelved that idea as being “not cost-effective.” However, the B-21 has been characterized from its inception as being part of a “family of long-range strike systems” acknowledged to include some kind of flying armed or electronic warfare escorts communications relay aircraft, or both.
The Raider
The B-21 Raider will be the backbone of the bomber fleet and will incrementally replace the B-1 and B-2 bombers as sufficient numbers of B-21s are available. The state-of-the-art bomber will provide survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to deter aggression and protect the US, allies, and partners.
The B-21 will come in cheaper than its B-2 predecessor, which cost more than $1 billion per airframe.
Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., will be the first B-21 operational base.
The Raider, while state-of-the-art in the 2020s, is designed to be upgraded throughout its life as well to maintain its relevance.
The B-21 is the first new bomber to be introduced since the end of the Cold War. The aircraft is designed with updated stealth qualities and mission flexibility that senior leaders in the Air Force and across the Department of Defense say are necessary to achieve the US goal of achieving integrated deterrence, and if necessary, capabilities required to successfully respond to aggression anywhere in the world at any time.
Photo credit: Tech. Sgt. William OBrien, 94th Airlift Wing photographer / U.S. Air Force, Matt Hartman Twitter profile, U.S. Air Force and Northrop Grumman
