For a long time, the US Air Force's strategic bomber force has been supported by the so-called three troikas, and the most powerful one is undoubtedly the B2 stealth bomber . This bomber, , is the world's first stealth strategic bomber. In the 1999 Kosovo War, , it quietly flew over , Belgrade, and threw down a large amount of JDAM joint attack ammunition, causing heavy losses to Yugoslavia . However, because this bomber is too expensive, the US military has never dared to purchase in large quantities, and its role has always been quite limited.
B2 strategic bomber
According to the latest report, the B21 strategic bomber, which has been promoted for many years, has finally officially debuted at the Pamdale factory in , California, . Interestingly, in November 1988, the B2 bomber was also publicly unveiled at this location. This is the first time that the US Air Force has publicly displayed its latest bomber to the public after 34 years.
In fact, the progress of this project has been delayed by at least two years. As early as July 2019, General Wilson, who was then the deputy chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, claimed that the B21 strategic bomber would first flight in December 2021. However, it has just debuted in December 2022. Even according to the most optimistic estimate, B21 can only make its first flight in 2023 at the earliest.
tractor dragged B21 out of the hangar for brief display
If we look at the aerodynamic appearance, the B21 strategic bomber is equivalent to a reduced version of B2, but some optimization has been made in the intake duct and bomb bay. It is generally believed that the internal oil range of the B2 bomber can reach more than 12,000 kilometers, while the combat radius of the B21 bomber is only 3,900 kilometers to 4,600 kilometers, and the maximum range will not exceed 10,000 kilometers. The maximum take-off weight of the
B2 bomber is as high as 170 tons and the maximum bomb load is about 23 tons. It is highly likely that these two indicators of the B21 bomber will shrink significantly. The maximum take-off weight is about 130 tons, and the internal bomb load may reach more than 15 tons, but it cannot exceed much. Interestingly, the US Air Force has confirmed that the bomber can carry GBU-57 heavy aviation bombs, which weighs 14.9 tons.
B21 officially unveiled
In addition, compared with B21, the body of the B21 bomber has become flatter and the air intake has become smaller. How to ensure a stable and sufficient intake capacity based on this design is quite high in process. But then again, in order to ensure that this bomber has the ability to carry large ammunition, the abdomen of the US military has become fuller. The tasks that the B21 bomber will perform in the future are diverse, not only limited to strategic bombing in the traditional sense, but can also engage in electronic attacks, battlefield situations, command, surveillance, reconnaissance and even intercept.
B21 The original CG
The purpose of Americans to do this design is quite obvious, that is, to significantly reduce the procurement cost of B21 bombers. You should know that the cost of B2 strategic bombers is as high as US$2.4 billion, and even traditional money-burning big players like the US Air Force cannot afford it. According to the information disclosed by many parties, the US Air Force's plan is to start service in the mid-20s, and the B21 strives to complete the replacement of active B1B bombers and B2 stealth bombers by the 1940s, and its total production plan is about 100 aircraft. However, according to the Americans' service habits in recent years, at least by 2030, the presence of the B21 bomber will be very low.
B21 The original CG
Americans are now aware of the current usage ideas of stealth strategic bombers, which are very different from those during the Cold War. When designing the B2 bomber, it mainly wanted to drag it into the Soviet Union through its extremely strong stealth ability, and then use synthetic aperture radar to eliminate the Soviet ballistic missile launcher to destroy the Soviet Union's nuclear counterattack capabilities.
However, in the current era when the advanced phased array radar is already very popular, this is simply impossible to complete. The B21 strategic bomber gave up this fantasy and instead emphasized more scale and intelligent combat capabilities, which is likely to be the development direction of stealth strategic bombers in the future.
