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Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The Air Force’s B-21 Raider Bomber Nightmare Has Just Begun

B-21 Raider Bomber U.S. Air Force
B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Key Points and Summary: The B-21 Raider represents the future of U.S. stealth bombers, delivering superior stealth and advanced avionics over the B-2 Spirit at a fraction of the cost.

Expensive Bomber Could Be a Nightmare Waiting to Happen: While the B-2 costs roughly $2 billion per plane, the B-21 Raider’s unit costs around $692 million, mainly due to refined manufacturing methods, modular design, and plans for a bigger fleet. While cheaper than the B-2, at a time of big budget deficits, many experts question such significant outlays at a time of nearly $2 trillion yearly deficits. 

The B-21 Raider’s stealth, range, and potential payload place it ahead of the decades-older B-2, including upgraded materials and coatings for reduced radar signature.

With an intended fleet of at least 100 units, the B-21 will strengthen the Air Force’s strategic flexibility and long-range strike prowess.

Meet the B-21 Raider: America’s New Stealth Bomber Has Arrived

The B-21 Raider, the United States’ upcoming sixth-generation strategic bomber, is a significant progression in stealth technology and capabilities compared to its predecessor, the B-2 Spirit bomber.

The B-21, currently in testing and developed by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. Air Force, is designed to excel in contested environments thanks to improvements in the bomber’s stealth capabilities.

There is, however, one question that continues to haunt the program: cost. Can the Air Force get funding to build enough B-21 Raider bombers?

Some say this is a nightmare challenge the U.S. military needs to take seriously, as history shows, not all Air Force stealth bomber projects go according to plan. 

Cost Comparison: B-21 Raider vs. B-2 Spirit

The B-2 Spirit, introduced in the latter stages of the Cold War, is infamously expensive. Each B-2 bomber costs roughly $2 billion. The total program cost exceeds $44 billion for just 21 aircraft.

This high cost per unit is partly the product of curtailed procurement numbers following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of Cold War hostilities.

On the other hand, the B-21 is projected to have a per-unit cost of approximately $692 million.

While still expensive for just one airframe, the vast price reduction reflects improvements to manufacturing, information gleaned in part from the earlier B-2 Spirit program, a modular design, and a higher number of total airframes the U.S. Air Force is expected to order.

The B-21 program’s overall cost is estimated to be around $203 billion for a planned fleet of at least 100 bombers and potentially more. That might be a bitter pill to swallow considering the overall U.S. budget deficit yearly getting closer to $2 trillion. 

“B-21 remains on track to meet its key performance parameter for Average Procurement Unit Cost (APUC) of $550 million in Base Year 2010 dollars,” a recent Northrup Grumman press release reads.

“The government has fixed price production options for the first 21 aircraft. Final terms, quantity, and pricing beyond the first 21 aircraft are subject to negotiation. The government and Northrop Grumman have established not to exceed pricing for an additional 19 aircraft.”

B-21 Raider: Capabilities and Technological Advancements

Incorporating a number of advanced technologies, the B-21 Raider will outperform the B-2 Spirit in several key areas.

The B-21’s stealth features give the strategic bomber a significantly reduced radar cross-section, even in comparison to the B-2, arguably the stealthiest aircraft to have ever flown.

The B-21 integrates new materials, stealthy coatings, and fuselage contouring that serve to enhance its survivability against radar systems.

Though the B-2 remains — for now — the stealth benchmark, that platform incorporates several decades-old technologies.

B-21 Raider. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

B-21 Raider. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

While specific figures for the B-21’s range and payload capacity are classified, analysts have attempted to quantify them and suggest they will match, if not surpass, the B-2’s operational range of 6,900 miles. Its payload capacity is expected to be slightly smaller than the B-2’s 40,000 pounds.

However, the B-21 makes up for this in two ways. First, it is expected to be stealthier than its older counterpart, giving the B-21 an operational advantage that offsets its lower capacity.

In addition, the B-21 is expected to become operational roughly in tandem with newer hypersonic munitions, giving the stealth bomber a significant stand-off capability.

Bomber Fleet Numbers and Strategic Implications

The U.S. Air Force plans to acquire at least 100 B-21s, a significant bump up from B-2 Sprit acquisition numbers, affording America’s flying branch greater flexibility with their strategic bomber fleet. But, again, costs could challenge the program’s future, especially if they were to rise. 

The B-21 Raider represents a substantial advancement in strategic bomber capabilities, offering enhanced stealth, range, and operational flexibility. While its unit cost is high at nearly $700 million, it is considerably less expensive than the B-2 in terms of per-unit costs.

B-21 Raider. Image Credit: U.S. Air Force.

B-21 Raider. Image Credit: U.S. Air Force.

Given the Raider’s advanced materials and anticipated extreme stealth, it will be significantly more capable than the B-2 Spirit. 

About the Author: Caleb Larson 

Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.

Written By

Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war's civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe.

10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Raptor1

    January 14, 2025 at 10:10 am

    Why so many articles where everything is a “nightmare waiting to happen”? That argument is getting incredibly old.
    The B-21 will be a nightmare for anyone tasked with stopping it, yes. The fact that a program like this is so desperately needed right now is a nightmare brought on by administrationa like the current one who are nothing but open checkbooks to every war they either start themselves, haphazardly go all-in on, or dont have the backbone to STOP before the invasion begins. The results are brush fires all over the world, our forces used as pitbulls, weapons sales to every quasi-friend around the world, and never-ending “aid packages” that are required because we have weak, feeble-minded leadership who are experts at destroying but know nothing about the virtues of true power and responsibility.
    As this relates to the B-21, we need to either get to a mature program and build en masse for a real threat, or recognize that it is not the solution, sooner rather than later. BEFORE it evolves into another F-35 and we arrive at 2035 with an aircraft program that needs massive “updates” (read, “We need more money if you want what was promised 15 years ago”), hasnt finished testing, and has every giddammed bell and whistle being justified by enemy systems we HANDED tech to.

  2. Nunya

    January 14, 2025 at 2:06 pm

    Oh look more propaganda trash. This whole “news” organization is trash.

  3. Wsssel78

    January 15, 2025 at 9:36 am

    You guys are very stupid and ridiculous! All you do is put down every single piece of military equipment in the world!

  4. UXO

    January 16, 2025 at 12:29 pm

    This is definitely click bait! I know this for a fact because I am a part of the flight testing team.

  5. Thor crockett

    January 16, 2025 at 2:55 pm

    I believe these bombers are absolutely necessary to hopefully outpace & out maneuver the Chinese who have almost become peer adversaries to the US. Congress can’t be allowed to stop the full buildout of the B-21 bomber program. Our military is currently at a disadvantage because of the runaway cost for the equipment they need. China has a major advantage when building their aircraft & other military equipment because 1) they have stolen so much classified engineering documents that they have a 10th the R & D the USA has & the 2nd reason is their labor costs are controlled by Xi & his corrupt government by using essentially slave labor paying much less per hour or yearly it makes it very difficult for US industrial complex to build as much as fast as the Chinese. Make no mistake, China, Russia, North Korea & Iran are our mortal enemies!!

  6. Brent

    January 16, 2025 at 10:25 pm

    I was going to come in to see if we could have some reasonable discussion about this, but the loud mouth pins heads have already contaminated the comments, so never mind, you’re not worth the effort.

  7. Gregory Donoghue

    January 17, 2025 at 8:05 am

    The B-21 needs to be built in numbers and now! It will be a Peace Keeper if ready in numbers! Get on it!

  8. Spuwho

    January 17, 2025 at 1:29 pm

    19fortyfive. We publish anything submitted,call it a nightmare and strategically bad. They never hold the authors to any kind of critical review of research backing up their remarks. And most of the contributors work in military think tanks!!

  9. Yazidi

    January 17, 2025 at 10:59 pm

    “China stole so much classified engineering documents”. If these stolen documents are worth the paper they are printed on,you would have seen the end products inducted into your military arsenal, wouldn’t you? Way before the one who allergly stole them.
    China must also have the smartest and most capable slave labourers in the world. They can build high tech weaponary systems.

  10. Thomas I Al-Yasha

    January 18, 2025 at 8:19 pm

    Any government ruled by tyrants is a threat to Freedom but a greater threat is Labor ruled by tyrants and parasites. We should be thankful for Freedom, the capability to be responsible for ones actions and speech and aware that its greatest threats are among us in sheep’s clothing.

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