Operations Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury make this crystal clear: Bombers that can precisely deliver large payloads halfway around the world are crucial assets. Given the small size and advanced age of America’s current bomber inventory, it is time to boost investment in the B-21 Raider to ensure long range strike remains a viable option at scale for the foreseeable future.
B-21 fleet
A second B-21 bomber has flown from Palmdale to Edwards Air Force Base in California, ramping up the Air Force’s test effort for its new fleet.
A second B-21 bomber will fly soon, and production increases are a recognition of a changing global environment and the important of long-range strike, according to Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, head of Air Force Global Strike Command.
The structural fatigue test of the B-1B bomber, which began in 2012 and was initially expected to take five years, will wrap up in 2021, an Air Force Materiel Command spokesman told Air Force Magazine. The test will stress the B-1 to 28,000 hours on ...
