Northrop Grumman has received funding for a coatings facility in Palmdale that will play a role in adding low-observable features to the bomber. The B-2 flying wing and the Space Shuttle were both assembled at the same site, which traces its origins back to the 1930s. Plant 42 has over three million square feet of industrial space and is near Edwards Air Force Base where the bomber will undergo flight testing. The B-21 will be integrated at a secure government-owned, contractor-operated facility known as Air Force Plant 42 near Palmdale, California. It will be assembled at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale California. So while Raider can leverage off-board capabilities, it has sufficient on-board reconnaissance, targeting and self-defense features to accomplish missions even in the most hostile environments. That requirement is dictated by the danger that communications in wartime might help reveal a bomber’s location or destination, and also by the need to operate in a nuclear environment where nearby detonations might degrade communications.
Despite its links to various off-board systems, B-21 will have the ability to shut down all external communications and carry out strike missions autonomously. B-21 will have the functionality to tap into any feature of this architecture that is useful in accomplishing its strike missions. Some features of this architecture, such as the role played by reconnaissance satellites, are not publicly discussed. That “family” of systems (as the Air Force calls it) includes airframes, munitions, reconnaissance systems, electronic warfare platforms, and resilient communications channels. The Air Force conceived Raider as one piece in an overarching architecture of systems designed to support long-range strike missions. It is only one part of a family of strike systems. B-21 will likely replace the retiring B-1B bomber as a host for the Navy’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, a stealthy, conventional cruise missile built by Lockheed Martin. However, it will debut as a conventional bomber capable of employing a diverse collection of smart weapons such as Boeing’s GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, which glides long distances to it targets. That means it will be wired from day one to carry the B-61 variable-yield nuclear gravity bomb and the Long Range Stand Off (LRSO) nuclear cruise missile.
Raider will replace Northrop Grumman’s B-2 “flying wing” in the penetrating part of the strategic nuclear mission assigned to heavy bombers. It will carry a diverse array of munitions, including nuclear weapons. The basic logic of the design is that if the B-21 is to be an effective deterrent to all forms of aggression, then it must be able to hold at risk every asset valued by any adversary, no matter how well concealed or hardened such assets may be.
In particular, it will have the range, payload, strike features and survivability to address every category of potential target-including deeply buried or time-sensitive mobile targets inside China. B-21 was conceived to overcome all the deficiencies of the current heavy bomber fleet, which consists of 157 aging Cold War aircraft. It will be able to destroy any target, anywhere.
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