The U.S. Air Force released two new images of the B-21 Raider during the 2023 Air and Space Forces Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado on Tuesday.
General Thomas A. Bussier, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command, spoke at the symposium and highlighted what is needed to defeat the threats facing the U.S.
One of those aspects was a bomber fleet that includes the B-21 Raider, which is described as a bomber that is adaptable for future threats and has both nuclear and conventional capabilities.
Bussier called the B-21 the “future backbone of the bomber fleet,” adding that the military branch will have 100 of the Raiders, at a minimum.
In the long-term plan, the Air Force plans to acquire 220 or more bombers.
The B-21 is “on track to deliver operational aircraft to its first main operating base in the mid-2020s,” the general said.
The B-21 Raider cockpit (U.S. Air Force)
The U.S. Air Force said in a press release that the plane was designed with an open architecture that allows for the quick insertion of mature technologies. It was also designed for supportability, maintainability and sustainability.
“The technologies that are integrated, and the open architecture system will provide any potential capabilities to advance, modernize and keep that weapon system on the leading edge of a threat in the future,” Bussier said.
The B-21 Raider is the first new American bomber aircraft in more than three decades, and almost every aspect of the program has been classified.