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
The Air Force is accelerating its plans to field an MQ-9A replacement in the wake of heavy Reaper losses in operations against Iran, top officials said Sept. 3, and they’re targeting a price point of just $10 million per aircraft.
The U.S. is rotating fresh fighter squadrons to the Middle East to support the Trump administration’s open-ended campaign of economic and military pressure against Iran.
An F-16 Air National Guard unit’s six-month deployment to Kadena Air Base, Japan, this year illustrated the capabilities the Guard’s oldest fighter units can still offer—but also the challenges they face, officials told reporters this week.
The last EC-130H Compass Call in the Air Force’s active inventory made its final flight Sept. 2, as the service prepares to retire the venerable electronic warfare aircraft and pivot to the new EA-37B.
Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers landed at a northern Australian air base this week, a major display of the U.S. military’s ability to project force in the Pacific.
The base cost of an F-35A, the Air Force variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, is going up 11.5 percent from $82.5 million to $92 million for the latest lots of the fifth-generation aircraft, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed.
The Air Force Research Laboratory has signaled to industry it wants to develop a low-cost hypersonic cruise missile to deliver a wide range of payloads at a range up to 500 nautical miles.
The Air Force’s decision to more than double its purchase of F-15EX Eagle II jets may bolster the service’s fighter fleet, but it also comes with risks and questions officials will have to manage in the years ahead, a new Pentagon report warns.
✓
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.
