B-21 Takes To The Sky For The First Time As Flight Testing Begins

The U.S. Air Force’s next-generation bomber has flown for the first time.

The Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider took to the skies over the company’s Plant 42 facility in Palmdale, California, on Nov. 10—less than one year since its first public rollout. Videos of the flight circulating on social media show the bomber and a chase plane flying over the flightline.

“The B-21 Raider is in flight testing,” Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek tells Aerospace DAILY. “Flight testing is a critical step in the test campaign managed by the Air Force Test Center and 412th Test Wing’s B-21 Combined Test Force to provide survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to deter aggression and strategic attacks against the U.S., allies and partners.”

The flight testing comes less than a month after the B-21 was spotted conducting taxi tests in the daylight at Palmdale. The first aircraft will now move to Edwards AFB, California, for developmental testing.

The video confirms the flying-wing aircraft has a simple W-shape trailing edge and reveals an extremely clean design with an almost featureless underside. The deeper centerbody compared to the B-2 is evident, with the undersurface between the main and nose gear essentially flat. The cambered leading edges also are evident, as are the trailing-edge control surfaces, including the outer split surface drag rudders.

In a statement, the Air Force says the program is in the engineering and manufacturing development phase and is on track to deliver aircraft to Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, in the mid-2020s.

Six aircraft are in production now. The test aircraft are being built on the same production line using the same tooling as upcoming production aircraft.

The flight test comes as the Air Force and Northrop Grumman officials had been tight-lipped about specific test milestones. A first flight is required for the Air Force to award Northrop Grumman its first low-rate production contract.

“The robust flight test campaign is being executed by a Combined Test Force comprised of Northrop Grumman and Air Force personnel that will validate our digital models and moves us another step closer to reaching operational capability,” the company said in a statement.