B-21 Raider: Next step, First flight!

a reply to: intelgurl

He also said that the program has met all of it's development milestones and is on schedule.

Meeting milestones is great but the "On Schedule" comment makes me think the story is B.S. or the aircraft exist in a computer only..

When has any mega military project been on schedule within programed budget since WW2 ? How much over budget and how many years delay will this turn into ? Sorry to sound negative but if anyone looks at history you have to wonder if this program will turn into another cluster like so many programs before...

a reply to: 727Sky

You do know that they had flying demonstrators?

unknown flying wings

a reply to: FredT

Under the current plan Dyess gets weapons testing and the weapons school, as well as keeping the B-1 training.

a reply to: 727Sky

This program isn't being run as a standard military program though. It's being run under the Rapid Capabilities Office, and has been completely different than any other program of its size.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: 727Sky

This program isn't being run as a standard military program though. It's being run under the Rapid Capabilities Office, and has been completely different than any other program of its size.

I figured you would reply and glad you did.. Let us hope some of the prior problems will not show their face with the Raider.

a reply to: 727Sky

This is going to be like nothing ever seen before. It's going to be fun to watch.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I'm looking forward to the rollout.

a reply to: Barnalby
Im waiting for the cover sheet to be taken off the Superbowl adds model.

a reply to: Zaphod58

What kind of time frame are we looking at for the public unveil of this bird Zaph? - By your reckoning at least..

a reply to: pigsy2400

On the record? Twelve months.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Off the record, she's already flying?

On that front, I wonder if we'll ever see the B-2 demonstrator. There's no way it made its first flight after the public rollout.

a reply to: Barnalby

I wonder if the raider has been to that lovely base in Scotland already? that would be a nice stretch of the legs...

a reply to: pigsy2400

The demonstrator went there. Almost came back in very small pieces.

a reply to: Barnalby

Off the record, no comment.

originally posted by: Barnalby
On that front, I wonder if we'll ever see the B-2 demonstrator. There's no way it made its first flight after the public rollout.

shameless plug

www.abovetopsecret.com...

So, to ask what is probably a dumb question. Where is the airframe now. Palmdale? Edwards? Groom? Where is this "first flight" likely to take place?

a reply to: SonofaSkunk

It'll be unveiled and fly out of 42.

a reply to: mightmight

Realistically, there was probably a "stealth N-9M" with a similar planform to the B-2 or high-altitude ATB proposal, an ~80' wingspan, and a pair of Learjet engines that buzzed around Nevada for a 6 month flight test regimen around the time that Thriller was on top of the charts before it either crashed or was broken up with a bulldozer and buried.

That, or it's roped off in some especially controlled-access corner of Plant 42 collecting dust.

But I'd bet money on it either having crashed or been junked in the 80s, otherwise, it would be significant enough to have warranted a place on display at Wright-Pat. I'm sure that Have Blue would be on display there if both of them hadn't lawn-darted back in the 70s.

AFGSC Chief Says It’s Too Early to Decide Bomber Force Size

The head of Air Force Global Strike Command believes the bomber force needs to grow, but he thinks it’s too early in the development cycle of the B-21 Raider to decide by how much because the jet’s final cost is not yet known.

Gen. Timothy Ray, speaking with reporters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, said AFGSC’s “Bomber Vector” was developed before the new National Defense Strategy was written, and he’s not ready yet to say the roadmap should be implemented.

“My job … is to keep as many options on the table as long as I possibly can,” Ray said. It won’t be known until about 2024 what the production cost of the new B-21 bomber will be, he said, because that’s the transition point between development, construction of the initial test aircraft, and the production version. Deciding on a final production number before that point would be “gambling,” Ray said, because it’s impossible to know what the world situation or the “fiscal realities will look like” before then.

Ray acknowledged that facilitizing for a rapid production of the new bomber would probably cost less than buying more slowly.

“[If] you think … about rate per year to get to your fleet size earlier and the savings that gives you, to build out the fleet faster is cheaper,” he admitted. “But like anything, you pay more up-front” to get high-capacity production. Though the Air Force has never said how quickly it plans to build B-21s, a number of officials have suggested it will be slow. The Bomber Vector said the B-2 and B-1 would start phasing out circa 2031, because the bulk of the B-21 fleet would be delivered by then. A fleet of 100 bombers delivered over seven years translates to production of fewer than 14 per year, since at least some early test versions are expected to be converted for operational use.

He also suggested the Air Force has “learned from” the B-2 and F-22 programs, where it paid industry to gear up for mass production and ended up buying far fewer than expected, raising unit costs.

[continued..]

airforcemag.com...

originally posted by: pigsy2400
a reply to: Barnalby

I wonder if the raider has been to that lovely base in Scotland already? that would be a nice stretch of the legs...

Aaaah it teases me whenever someone mentions a base in Scotland. WHERE?!
I travel Scotland almost every year would love a to know of a base I'd like to scope out. you teasers I hate you all