Dramatic music and curtain: The American defense company Northrop Grumman unveiled its latest fighter-bomber at the end of Friday: the B-21 Raider, the most modern fighter aircraft in the world.
With an impressive wingspan of about 43 meters, the fighter pilot initially remained covered under a huge sheet. Then the reveal. A silhouette straight out of a sci-fi movie. “The future of deterrence,” writes the weapons company on its website.
21st century bombers
The B-21 will enable U.S. military forces to “penetrate and manipulate the battlefield even better,” according to a senior Pentagon official in Palmdale, California, where Northrop Grumman is headquartered. The state-of-the-art combat apparatus is the “backbone” of the US fleet.
The US Air Force expects to deliver the first B-21s in mid-2020. Designed as a stealth aircraft, the long-range strategic bomber is the successor to the B-1 and B-2. With the designation changed to B-21, the fighter jet is being marked as a bomber of the 21st century. (kes)