htmlOn October 20, Northrop Grumman, the winner of the next-generation strategic bomber of the United States, released a short video of the B-21 "Raider" new generation stealth strategic bomber through social media. The short video said that it is scheduled to debut (downline) on December 2. This trailer video also said that B-21 is "changing everything" (game changer)" and is also a sixth-generation aircraft, suggesting that it may have the ability to command drones to conduct network-centered warfare.
B21 strategic stealth bomber first flight C G picture
So what kind of bomber is the B21 strategic stealth bomber? What is special about it compared to the senior B2 strategic stealth bomber?
1. Performance introduction
1. Stealth performance B21 is better in terms of stealth performance.
information shows that the B2 strategic stealth bomber has a wingspan of 52 meters and a length of 21 meters. According to the B-21 released by the US Air Force magazine in 2019 Compared with the size comparison chart of B-2, the B2 strategic stealth bomber has a wingspan of 45.5 meters and a length of 18.7 meters. In terms of appearance size alone, the projection area of B21 is less than 80% of that of B2. Even if the stealth design level of the two is comparable, the radar reflection section of B21 will be much smaller than B2.
B-2 (left) and B-21 (right) intuitive comparison chart
From the comparison chart, the appearance design of B21 is more concise, and the double M-shaped appearance design is changed to a single M-shaped appearance design The opening of the whole body is greatly reduced, and the engine tail nozzle has no "serrated" design, which is conducive to further improving stealth performance. The flatter tail nozzle design is also more conducive to reducing exhaust temperature and thus reducing infrared stealth characteristics.
2. In terms of bomb load, B21 is 40% less than B2.
data shows that the maximum bomb load of B2 strategic stealth bomber is 22.7 tons. According to US media reports, the maximum bomb load of B21 strategic stealth bomber is 13.6 tons, and the bomb load is reduced by 40%.
3. In terms of range, B21 and B2 are basically . According to the information released by the US military, the maximum range of the B2 strategic stealth bomber is about 11,100 kilometers, and it can reach 18,520 kilometers after refueling in the air. According to the news released by the US military, the maximum range of the B21 strategic stealth bomber is about 11,000 kilometers, which is basically the same as B2.
B2 and F35 formation flight
According to the news released by the US Air Force and Northrop Grumman, the appearance of the B-21 is not much different from that of the B2, but the engine has been reduced from 4 to 2, and the thrust of a single unit has been increased from 8.7 tons. To about 13 tons, the total thrust has been reduced from 34 tons to about 26 tons, and the maximum take-off weight has been reduced from 170.6 tons to about 150 tons. As the engine is more advanced and its fuel efficiency has been moderately improved, the range of B21 can still be greatly improved at B2. The outside world expects that B21 will likely use the F135 turbofan engine to remove the derivative version of afterburner combustion chamber . However, considering the strong technical strength of the variable cycle engine in the United States, the United States may also replace the variable cycle engine for B21 in the future, and the range will be further improved.
2. B21 is more powerful than B2.
1. Comprehensive stealth performance is stronger.
B21 fully inherits the advantages of B2, and also makes a lot of improvements based on the shortcomings found during use. For example, in order to improve the stealth effect of "meter wave band", B21 has specially made targeted designs. The existing rice wave anti-stealth radar may not be able to find its traces at a longer distance, and the battlefield survivability is further improved.
2. The combat mode is more flexible.
The US Air Force once said that the B-21 bomber, which is both nuclear and common strikes, has a "unmanned/manned" driving selection mode. Just turn on a few switches to effectively convert it into a remotely controlled unmanned bomber. It is particularly important to emphasize that if it is human mode, it can also be transformed into a "loyal wingman" command aircraft and paired with several "loyal wingman" drones to perform missions. If you want to improve your penetration capabilities, you can use a "combat" drone to fight and protect B21 throughout the journey. If you want to improve your ammunition loading capabilities, you can use a "bombing" drone to fight and act as the ammunition database of B21.
CCTV discloses the "loyal wingman" formation composed of J-20 and Attack 11. The data shows that the design of the B-21 is positioned as a "penetrating air control" bomber. The so-called "penetrating air control" means that it relies on its powerful stealth ability and electromagnetic suppression capabilities to penetrate the enemy's air defense system and go deep into the hinterland to hunt enemy air defense and anti-missile forces and air control fighters, and clear the threats of air defense and air control for its offensive fleet to achieve its own combat goals. This means that the B21 is not a simple bomber, but in fact it is also a large electronic warfare aircraft !
3, stand-alone cost and daily maintenance cost are lower.
As we all know, the B2 strategic stealth bomber is known as the most expensive bomber ever, twice as expensive than gold. Not only is it expensive, but daily maintenance is also very cumbersome. The delicate stealth paint needs to be re-sprayed in a very short time, resulting in high daily maintenance and use costs. Even the wealthy US Air Force is difficult to resist, and eventually has to reduce the purchase volume.
In order to avoid the pit of "cost, maintenance and use costs are too expensive", the US military has not pursued the latest cutting-edge technologies from the beginning. Instead, it is based on a large number of mature technologies accumulated during the development of B2 and the advanced technologies that have developed in just 30 years. This is not only conducive to shortening the development cycle, but also avoiding the uncertainty spending in the verification process of the latest cutting-edge technologies, thereby greatly reducing the development costs. In order to further reduce the cost of construction and daily maintenance, the B21 did not further increase the maximum take-off weight, but instead reduced it moderately.
B21 Multi-view Shape
" Long-range Strike Bomber " is a new stealth bomber launched in February 2009. In 2015, Northrop Grumman won the contract for the new generation of stealth bombers in the United States. The US Air Force named the new generation of bombers the B-21 "Raider" bomber in 2016. According to the cost budget for in 2010, the unit price of the B-21 bomber will be around US$550 million, which can be regarded as a bargain price compared to the sky-high price of US$2.4 billion in B2 that year (equivalent to US$4.15 billion in 2010). Considering that the purchasing power of all currencies will decrease over time, it is expected that the unit price of the B-21 bomber will rise to 800 million to 1 billion US dollars by mass production, but the cost is still very cheap. The lower the cost of , the more conducive it is to a large number of equipment. According to the US Air Force, the number of B21 purchased will exceed 100 aircraft, which will be more than 5 times that of B2!
Overall, B21 shows that the mini version of B2 is just a large number of applications of more advanced design concepts and more advanced mature technologies. Although the bomb load capacity has dropped a lot, its survivability has not only not decreased, but has also been further improved. In addition, in terms of functions, B21 also increases the electromagnetic suppression capability and the "loyal wingman" control system compared to B22, which is conducive to improving the combat effectiveness of B21. moderately reduces the maximum load capacity, but at the same time improves stealth performance, improves usage flexibility, increases functions, and also reduces the single-machine cost and daily maintenance cost to one-fifth or even lower. Such a B21 is far more practical and terrifying than B2. has to be said that this aspect is worth learning from and learning from the "water molecules" that have not yet officially debuted in my country.
A lean camel is bigger than a horse. It has to be said that a country that has invaded others everywhere for a long time can often put forward some practical and advanced concepts with its rich practical experience accumulated over a long period of time. At any time, our country should pay attention to countries with rich practical experience, and carefully study and learn from the new concepts it puts forward, while paying attention to taking the essence and discarding the dross.
