(Luft) Northrop-Grumman B-21 Raider (Long Range Strike Bomber)

[Schneemann]

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B-21 Raider First Flight Now Postponed to 2023

Without explanation, the Air Force now says the first B-21 bomber will not make its first flight until 2023, pushing back at least six months from the previously expected timetable.

“Recently, the Air Force released a new estimate for first flight; projected for next year, 2023,” a service spokeswoman said May 20. The service said it’s trying to be as “transparent” as it can be about the project, and “this estimate reflects the current status of the program.” She did not attribute the delay to any particular cause. Many other high-profile programs, such as Boeing’s T-7A trainer, have recently reported delays due to supply chain issues and labor shortages. [...]

Rapid Capabilities Office director Randall Walden predicted in early 2021 that the B-21 would fly in “mid-2022,” and in March said that the first flyable example was largely assembled and undergoing outdoor calibration tests. These, he said, would be followed by taxi tests and first flight, but he did not give a timetable. [...] The Air Force plans to spend nearly $20 billion on producing the B-21 during the future years defense plan running from fiscal 2023 through fiscal 2027, and another $12 billion on research and development for the program during that same period, for a total of $32 billion over the FYDP. The B-21 will succeed the B-1B and B-2 bombers now in service, but the exact dates of those turnovers has been walked back in recent years.

https://www.airforcemag.com/b-21-raider-...d-to-2023/

Schneemann