B-2 spirit vs B-21 Raider: what's changed?

Simple Flying has published an article claiming that Northrop Grumman's B-21 Raider is a more advanced yet slightly smaller successor to the B-2 Spirit. Caliber.Az reprints the article.

Both the B-2 Spirit and B-21 Raider "flying wings" are subsonic American strategic bombers designed to avoid radar and be capable of delivering conventional and thermonuclear weapons. American defense giant Northrop Grumman built both; at first glance, the aircraft look nearly identical. However, the B-21 Raider is slightly smaller, features a longer range, and has far more advanced technology than the B-2 it will replace.

Still, a highly secret black project, the only images released to the press are head-on views, making it difficult to see what changes have been made to the B-21 Raider compared to the B-2 Spirit. When the B-2 Spirit was revealed to the public in November 1988, it was pulled out of a hangar at Northrop's facilities in Palmdale, California, for all to see.

The unveiling

With the event publicized well in advance, Aviation Week writer Michael A. Dornheim assumed the Soviet Union would have a satellite overhead taking photos of the new stealth plane. To get the scoop for Aviation Week, he rented a Cessna 172 and hired photographer Bill Hartenstein to take overhead photos. This led to a legendary photo of the B-2 from above. The military was unhappy, so the second time around, it ensured that when the B-21 was revealed to the public on December 2nd, 2022, it was done at night, with the plane never leaving its hangar.

With guests at the unveiling only allowed a heads-up view, the main obvious noticeable differences were in the air intakes. The air intakes on the B-21 Raider are much narrower than those on the B-2 Spirit. The smaller air intakes improve the aircraft's stealth capabilities as they make the engine fan blades harder to detect.

How the stealth bomber came to be

When the idea of building a stealth aircraft that could avoid enemy radar surfaced in the mid-1970s, the USA was in a Cold War with the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed on December 25th, 1991, the United States began focusing on China.

The United States Air Force (USAF) was supposed to take delivery of a whopping 132 examples of the B-2 Spirit aircraft but, in the end, only received 21 before the program was halted. Over the years, stealth technology improved, and in 2015, the USAF was asking for a stealth bomber that could not only deliver bombs but act as a battle manager and interceptor.

The B-21 raider is expected to enter service in 2040

The B-21 Raider prototype made its maiden flight on November 10th, 2023, and is expected to enter service with the USAF in 2040. When the plane arrives, it will replace the Air Forces B-2 Spirit and B-1 Lancer strategic bombers. It may even replace the aging B-52s, although their new Rolls-Royce F130 engines will help keep them in service until the 2050s.