A second B-21 Raider, the nation’s sixth-generation stealth bomber, joins flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 11, 2025. The program is a cornerstone of the Department of the Air Force’s nuclear modernization strategy, designed to deliver both conventional and nuclear payloads. (Courtesy photo)
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
The Air Force released half a dozen new photos of the second B-21 bomber to fly Sept. 12, giving observers and aviation enthusiasts another glimpse of the secretive and hotly anticipated Raider.
The photos, showing the new tail taking off from Palmdale, Calif., and landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., are relatively low-resolution but show off the aircraft’s distinctive delta shape, unusual cockpit windows, tall, triangular doors on its upper surface—one on either side—which open to provide more air to the engines during ground operations, takeoff, and landing, and and some of its control surfaces.
One of the images even shows the second B-21 tail taxiing while what appears to be the first tail is partially visible in a hangar.
Of note, the images also show this B-21 relatively unadorned.
The first aircraft sported extra test equipment on its first flight, with a probe coming out the front and trailing a lengthy cable from the upper surface of the tail. It also featured the emblems of Air Force Materiel Command, Global Strike Command, and the 412th Test Wing behind the cockpit windows, and its tail number and nickname—“Cerebrus”—on the front landing gear door.
In contrast, the second B-21 appeared to have none of those things.
The absence of the testing equipment may mean this will be the radar cross section test aircraft, used to test the B-21’s stealth. It could also mean it is more operationally configured.
One image does appear to show an emblem painted on the inside of the front landing gear door—a Spartan-style helmet with wings.
The Air Force has revealed little about the B-21’s characteristics and capabilities but claims it is the world’s first sixth-generation aircraft.
Photos released by the service or snapped by aviation spotters offer smalldetails on the aircraft, including tidbits on its estimated size, number of weapons bays, control surfaces, exhausts, and more.
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
A new think tank analysis finds a hypothetical blended-wing body tanker could offer twice as much refueling performance as the KC-46A Pegasus and recommends the Air Force buy scores of them, as the service prepares to evaluate a BWB demonstrator next year and must juggle its future tanker plans with…
For years, U.S. and South Korean officials have said they want to reach an arrangement where, should war break out on the peninsula, Seoul’s military commanders would have operational control of American forces there. Such a setup would be unprecedented in modern times and what it would mean for U.S.…
Squadrons of F-22 Raptors and F-15C Eagles have arrived at Kadena Air Base, Japan, for temporary deployments as the critical Pacific base awaits its permanent F-15EX fighters.
At a high-profile meeting of defense ministers in the Philippines this week, U.S. and Japan leaders finalized an agreement to establish a production facility in Japan for the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, following a massive $20.7 billion Pentagon contract to expand production of the missile over the next seven…
The Air Force has awarded Castelion, a venture capital-backed defense startup founded in 2022, a contract to integrate its hypersonic Blackbeard missile onto the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Fresh off Boeing’s victory in the competition to build the Navy’s sixth-generation F/A-XX fighter, CEO Kelly Ortberg on Oct. 27 expressed confidence that the darkest days of the company’s beleaguered defense sector are in the past. A year ago, Boeing expected its Defense, Space, and Security division to see revenue…
The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $694 million contract for production of the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon last month, the service announced Oct. 26.
The Air Force is taking the first steps to build a $1 billion campus including hangars, laboratories, maintenance and training facilities, and more to test the F-47 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.—and the service plans to finish construction by 2031 as it moves quickly to field the upcoming sixth-generation…
The Air Force’s future strategy for fighting wars could include arming bombers with air-to-air strike capabilities, the service said in a new report to Congress.
✓
Thank You!
Check your inbox to verify your email address and finish setting up your AFA account.
★
Welcome Back!
An account with this email already exists. Please log in to continue.
Subscribe to the Air & Space Forces Daily Report
The latest news from Air & Space Forces Magazine, as well as news from other leading publications, delivered right to your inbox every morning!
We’re sorry, there has been an error. Please review your input or try again later.
