Pentagon approves start of initial production of B-21 “Raider”
Northrop Grumman received the “green light” from the Pentagon to begin low rate initial production (LRIP) of the B-21 “Raider”, the U.S. Air Force’s new stealth bomber, and first sixth-generation combat aircraft to begin production.
“Production of the B-21 ‘Raider’ stealth bomber is moving forward. 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,” Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment William LaPlante said in a statement to Breaking Defense.
“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,” he added.
See also: The B-21 Raider had its first flight
This important announcement came just days after news that the B-21 prototype had completed its second test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It is the first of six pre-production examples that Northrop Grumman built for the test program.
“As communicated by the U.S. Air Force, the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider has entered the initial production phase at a low rate. Our team received the contract award after the B-21 entered flight test within the program’s baseline schedule. Our production representative test aircraft demonstrated production readiness, meeting all performance and flight data requirements,” the company said in a statement.
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) plans to acquire at least 100 B-21 “Raider” bombers, which will form the backbone of its future nuclear deterrent capability. According to Northrop Grumman, the Raider is the first sixth-generation combat aircraft to enter service, thanks to its enhanced stealth capabilities, high-volume information handling and open architecture systems, which will allow the aircraft to evolve rapidly through technology upgrades that provide new capabilities to overcome future threats.
The post Pentagon approves start of initial production of B-21 “Raider” appeared first on Aviacionline.com.
Aviacionline
