The Air Force and Northrop Grumman will roll out the B-21 Raider from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., on Dec. 2, the company announced via Twitter. The rollout is the first for a new Air Force bomber since 1988, when the B-2 Spirit emerged from the same facility.
The invitation-only event will include Air Force and political dignitaries and a limited number of media representatives, according to Pentagon and industry sources. Photography will be permitted, but the Air Force will restrict the size of lenses photographers can use, and viewing of the aircraft will be limited to one section of the facility. No new photographs or artwork are planned to be released in conjunction with B-21 rollout.
Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter teased the announcement at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in September, saying the event would happen the “first week of December,” meeting previous service statements that the event would happen by the end of calendar 2022.
The first B-21 needs to emerge from the high-security production facility to begin outside engine runs and taxi tests in preparation for its first flight. The outside activity will mean the aircraft will be visible from outside the plant in the coming months.
First flight, now expected in mid-2023, will happen roughly a year after the Air Force first predicted the new bomber would fly. The service has not said what caused the delay but specifically ruled out supply chain issues stemming from the COVID pandemic.
The Air Force has said six B-21s are in various stages of construction.
When the Air Force awarded the contract for the program—then known as the Long-Range Bomber—in 2015, the service said it would have at least one article ready for operational use in “the mid-2020s.” It has not wavered from that prediction since. Air Force Global Strike Command has voiced a requirement for as many as 150 B-21s, but officially, the Air Force’s requirement is for “at least 100” of the aircraft.