Northrop Grumman has revealed new details about the B-21 Raider ahead of the bomber's rollout Dec. 2. Calling the B-21 a "sixth-generation" aircraft, the company confirmed that the bomber will rely on external support platforms; that it has a "digital twin" to aid development; and ...
The Air Force may not need more than the 100 B-21s it originally planned to buy because it can supplement them with new "collaborative" uncrewed aircraft, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He and Secretary Frank Kendall ...
The Air Force’s newest rendering of the secret B-21 bomber suggests an exotic layout of cockpit windows. The image, the third released so far, offers a new oblique view of the aircraft from below its port side, suggesting a deeper keel and wider weapons bay ...
Brig. Gen. William H. Kale III told House appropriators May 19 to expect a “significant” improvement in military construction funding in the department’s fiscal 2022 budget request, saying key focus areas include the fielding of new nuclear capabilities and bolstering facilities in the European and ...
As the first flight of the B-21 Raider bomber draws closer, Gen. Timothy M. Ray, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, toured Northrop Grumman’s production facility and the test enterprise that will put the jet through its paces beginning next year.
Air Force Global Strike Command chief Gen. Timothy M. Ray offered a blunt assessment of the Army’s plan to take over some of the Air Force’s long-range strike mission. “It’s a stupid idea,” he said during an AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies podcast. The ...
The Air Force's experimental runway shelter for the new B-21 bomber is large enough to cover it or the B-2, and therefore reveals no information about the dimensions of the new aircraft. Two such shelters will be evaluated, but the maker of the second version ...
Former Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper's transformational ideas on how to buy new systems will stay on track without him, senior service officials said Feb. 24. Digital engineering, agile software development, and open architectures will play a part in all new systems. But sticking ...
Bigger fleets of aircraft are easier and less costly per aircraft to manage than small ones, but that may change as the Air Force moves toward the new Digital Century Series, Air Force Materiel Command chief Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr. said July 1. The ...
Heading into budget negotiation season, the three civilian heads of the armed forces outlined their looming struggles with Capitol Hill at a Feb. 21 Center for Strategic and International Studies panel. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said it’s harder to convince lawmakers of the merits ...
After a heated partisan fight over the Pentagon's nuclear modernization efforts, House and Senate authorizers agreed to let the Air Force's key strategic programs move forward relatively unscathed.