Key Points – A few months ago, the U.S. Air Force relocated its entire fleet of B-1B Lancer bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base to facilitate infrastructure upgrades ahead of the new B-21 Raider rollout.
-Though aging, the Cold War-era B-1B remains valued for its high speed and payload capacity.
-Its successor, the B-21 Raider, promises superior stealth, advanced avionics, and nuclear capability, positioning it as the backbone of future American airpower.
-Designed by Northrop Grumman, the B-21 is expected to enter service later this decade, replacing both the B-1 and B-2 Spirit bombers, and significantly enhancing the U.S. Air Force’s global strategic deterrent capabilities.
The B-1B Bomber Move
A few months back, the United States Air Force moved its entire fleet of B-1B Lancer bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota to Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota and Anderson Air Force Base in Guam ahead of the upcoming B-21 Raider bomber rollout.
“The temporary relocation is necessary to complete a runway construction project tied to the future bed down of the B-21 Raider and as the last B-1 departed January 25, 2025,” the United States Air Force explained in their statement.
They added that “it marked the first time in 30 years the Ellsworth flightline was empty of Lancers.” In essence, the U.S. Air Force is making preparations to infrastructure ahead of the rollout of the B-21.
B-1B Lancer Bomber, Explained
The B-1B Lancer is a Cold War-era mainstay of the U.S. Air Force bomber fleet that, though somewhat aged, is still prized by the U.S.A.F. for its relatively high top speed and large payload capacity.
In an era of increasingly sophisticated air defenses, the U.S. Air Force sought a bomber that could fly fast at low altitudes, hugging the ground where Soviet air defenses would struggle.
Thanks to its variable-sweep wing design, the bomber could cruise efficiently at altitude while also pulling off blisteringly high sprints to target to drop payload — including nuclear weapons.
Though the B-1 Lancer is still in service, it almost never saw the light of day thanks to a worse-than-expected low-altitude performance and ballooning costs. However, thanks to delays with the B-2 program, the B-1B Lancer bomber project was restarted as an interim bomber until the B-2 came online.
Behold, the B-21 Raider Strategic Bomber
Though outwardly similar to the B-2 Spirit flying wing bomber, the B-21 Raider will be a much more capable aircraft. In a program update given by the U.S. Air Force in September, America’s flying branch explained that the B-21 will “incrementally replace the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers to become the backbone of the Air Force’s flexible global strike capability. The airframe is a long-range, highly survivable stealth bomber capable of delivering a mix of conventional and nuclear munitions and will be the “air leg” of the nuclear triad, critical to deterring conflict.”
Though not yet in service with the U.S. Air Force, the B-21 is currently undergoing an airframe and wing fatigue testing regimen. The U.S. Air Force has previously expressed a desire to ultimately field at least 100 of the aircraft.
Northrup Grumman, the American aerospace firm behind the design, calls the B-21 the “world’s first sixth-generation aircraft.” Definitions aside, the Raider will almost certainly be the world’s stealthiest aircraft — fighter or bomber — when it enters service later this decade.
Exact details about the B-21 Raider are naturally not available to the public, but a rough comparison between the B-21 and older B-2 is still possible. The B-21 fleet will be roughly five times as big as the B-2 — if not more — and the cost per aircraft will be about a quarter of the cost per B-2, partly thanks to a significantly larger fleet size.
Though both aircraft share a similar flying-wing airframe design, advances in stealth coatings, as well as improved engines and superior stealthily contoured geometry, afford the B-21 a significant edge over the Cold War-era B-2 Spirit.
“Whether from North Dakota, South Dakota or from a forward operating base,” the U.S. Air Force said, “Raider maintainers have the capability and capacity to enable long range strike, anytime, anywhere.”
The B-1B Lancer Bomber: A Photo Essay
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.
