MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
From Air Force Magazine:
The new B-21 Raider stealth bomber is making good progress and should fly in December 2021, USAF Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen "Seve" Wilson said July 24.
Wilson, speaking at an AFA Mitchell Institute event in Washington, D.C., said the service continues to analyze its capacity for long-range strike. The Air Force still believes it is short, and is reviewing alternative force mixes.
Speaking on deterrence and the need to modernize the nuclear command, control and communications network, Wilson said he was at Northrop Grumman's facilities in Melbourne, Fla. in the last few weeks, "looking at the B-21," and said the company is "moving out on that pretty fast." Wilson said he has an application on his phone "counting down the days … and don't hold me to it, but it's something like 863 days to first flight."
That would put the first flight of the B-21 in December 2021. The Air Force has said from the beginning that the first B-21 would be a "useable asset" but has also said it doesn't expect an initial operating capability with the B-21 before the "mid 2020s."
The new B-21 Raider stealth bomber is making good progress and should fly in December 2021, USAF Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen "Seve" Wilson said July 24.
Wilson, speaking at an AFA Mitchell Institute event in Washington, D.C., said the service continues to analyze its capacity for long-range strike. The Air Force still believes it is short, and is reviewing alternative force mixes.
Speaking on deterrence and the need to modernize the nuclear command, control and communications network, Wilson said he was at Northrop Grumman's facilities in Melbourne, Fla. in the last few weeks, "looking at the B-21," and said the company is "moving out on that pretty fast." Wilson said he has an application on his phone "counting down the days … and don't hold me to it, but it's something like 863 days to first flight."
That would put the first flight of the B-21 in December 2021. The Air Force has said from the beginning that the first B-21 would be a "useable asset" but has also said it doesn't expect an initial operating capability with the B-21 before the "mid 2020s."