Summary and Key Points: Despite arguments favoring unmanned platforms, long-range manned stealth aircraft like the upcoming B-21 Raider and the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter remain crucial for U.S. military strategy, especially in the Indo-Pacific.
-China’s powerful anti-ship missiles and extensive anti-air defenses challenge shorter-range aircraft and vulnerable aerial tankers.
-Large, stealthy, manned platforms offer essential capabilities—extensive range, payload capacity, and survivability—that smaller drones and quadcopters lack.
-While costly, these advanced aircraft are indispensable assets capable of operating effectively over vast distances, ensuring American forces maintain the necessary reach, lethality, and persistence to respond to evolving global threats.
Does the United States Still Need Large Manned Platforms like the B-21 Raider?
Does the United States need long-range stealth aircraft like the upcoming B-21 Raider stealth bomber, or the Next-Generation Air Dominance platform, the U.S. Air Force’s sixth-generation fighter?
There are quite a few opinions on the topic floating around — some more qualified than others.
Late last year, Elon Musk, the billionaire behind Tesla, SpaceX, X, The Boring Company, and other ventures, took to the social media platform he owns to disparage the F-35 stealth fighter and the teams of engineers and designers behind it.
In a tweet, Musk posted a video of a large quadcopter drone swarm, saying that “idiots” are still advocating for manned platforms like the F-35 and seemingly advocating in favor of smaller unmanned systems.
Online commentators were quick to point out that not only do small quadcopter designs — or even larger quadcopters — lack the range and payload capacity to serve as platforms for most of the munitions in United States arsenals, but they also lack any stealth capabilities and could relatively easily be jammed or misdirected via electronic warfare.
Irrespective of what Musk thinks, there are still broad applications for stealthy, crewed platforms — in particular, those that have a very long range. There’s an important geographic component too.
In the Indo-Pacific
One of the primary applications for large, stealthy, crewed aircraft is the Indo-Pacific theater. The incredibly long ranges that define that part of the world, with many thousands of miles between air bases at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, on Hawaii, and elsewhere, mean that a manned aircraft with plenty of internal fuel storage space is still important, irrespective of what Elon Musk says or what his DOGE outfit hopes to achieve.
Thanks as well to China’s powerful anti-ship weaponry, especially their DF-21 and DF-17 “carrier killer” missiles, would force the United States Navy — and the navies of other countries — to operate much farther away from land than in previous conflicts like the war against Imperial Japan during the Second World War.
In the opening stages of the conflict in Taiwan, the United States Navy would be forced to launch aircraft sorties far away from where the actual fighting would take place, consequently placing a premium on aircraft capable of very long-range flights.
The Tanker Shortfall
Thanks in part to overwhelming air superiority in the wars the United States has fought since the end of the Cold War, American airpower today is highly dependent on the United States aerial refueling tanker fleet to keep fighters airborne.
Even when equipped with range-boosting external fuel tanks or conformal fuel tanks, American fighters’ combat range is calculated in hundreds of miles, and China knows this. Consequently, the Chinese have dedicated not-inconsiderable resources to developing extremely long-range air-to-air weaponry specifically to take out important nodes in the American airpower equation, tankers in particular.
While the United States does operate a large fleet of tanker aircraft, these platforms are generally commercial aircraft designs adapted for an aerial refueling role. As such, they lack the stealth considerations inherent to fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft. In a highly contested environment, the United States tanker fleet would struggle to survive, most especially during prolonged fuel transfers, which can take dozens of minutes when aircraft are relatively exposed.
Therefore, future aircraft like the Next-Generation Air Dominance platform, the upcoming B-21 Raider bombers, and China’s J-36 aircraft all place a premium on the range. Or do they?
B-21 Raider
The U.S. Air Force calls the B-21 Raider the world’s first sixth-generation aircraft. It is widely expected to offer a significant jump in stealth capabilities compared to its outwardly similar B-2 Spirit predecessor.
Though both share a broadly similar flying-wing fuselage design, advanced stealth coatings, new engines, and thermal management, as well as other features, are anticipated to make the Raider significantly more difficult to detect.
The exact details of the B-21 Raider are naturally unknown to the public. However, one area in which the Raider could pale in comparison to its B-2 Spirit forerunner? Range.
Though still somewhat speculative, the Raider’s smaller physical size may translate into less internal space available for fuel. Barring a significant jump in engine performance and efficiency, this could translate to a lower range.
Postscript
Though some of the United States’ upcoming aerospace projects may ultimately have hefty price tags, there is not an immediate replacement for them: thanks to the B-21 Raider and NGAD’s anticipated stealth characteristics, long-range, and therefore long loiter time on station, they offer a unique capability that other aircraft cannot.
And, given the incredibly long ranges of the Indo-Pacific, these kinds of platforms could prove to be some of the most valuable military assets in that region, should war break out.
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.
