Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider, airframe number 2, begins flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base, 11 September 2025

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lavardera@reddit

I wonder if this will have the long range, bunks, and accommodations of the larger one.

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BreadUntoast@reddit

Allegedly somewhere. There’s not really any good footage of what’s going on behind the pilot’s seats from what I understand

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IlluminatedPickle@reddit

I've heard they're only like, canvas style cots.

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slayer214@reddit

Apparently during the first strikes sfter 9/11, they purchased fold out lawn chairs from Wal Mart for the long missions from Missouri. I am not kidding.

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Sivalon@reddit

It’s smaller in every dimension, so I doubt it’ll have the space.

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Shaun_Jones@reddit

It’s supposed to have more range than the B-2, so it will need some kind of accommodations for long duration missions.

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lavardera@reddit

sure - a bunk, a head, some lockers for MREs- does not take up a lot of space. Its smaller but its still got a 130ft wingspan.

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Miuramir@reddit

Article with some more pictures, including a nice shot of the underside

Official USAF press release

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Subarucamper@reddit

There are little door between the big doors. AIM-120 bays?

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seeyoulaterinawhile@reddit

I like to call the AIM-260 bays. They going to be shooting at Chinese 6th gen triangles

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malusfacticius@reddit

And how'd it handle the PL-17 and/or PL-20/21 the Chinese 6th gen triangle be shooting at it at much higher velocity?

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But since you asked the range of an aim-260 is over 200 miles and those Chinese triangles would be dead before they ever knew the B21 was there or before they could get into range to watch their own missiles.

But again, I was just fucking around because the other guy mentioned the AIM-120 and I thought hell why not make it the aim 260.

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malusfacticius@reddit

Forgot the /s :D

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XenoRyet@reddit

Doubt it. This thing will carry its air-to-air weaponry in external pods that we like to call F-22s.

Or in other words, if your bomber needs to fire an AMRAAM, you done fucked up big time. That particular failure mode won't be in the design spec.

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HNL2BOS@reddit

I thought the USAF was kicking around the idea for the B-21 to be a missile truck there was a need? Or maybe that was just shenanigans to get a better deal on NGAD and to make manufacturers think they'll just cancel it at the time.

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2ndHandRocketScience@reddit

Lmao. Just imagining a B-21 and an SU-25, both out of missiles, in a desperate dogfight to the death

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PartyLikeAByzantine@reddit

Access for the engines and other systems.

B-2 has similar panels.

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Sivalon@reddit

From the article: “The high-resolution image of the underside of the second B-21 is particularly notable in that it shows a single main bay. The other two sets of outboard door apertures are seen sealed shut with fasteners lining their perimeters. They also appear to be at least configured for radiofrequency (RF) sensor apertures. Together, this all points to the Raider only having a single large central weapons bay, not a pair of smaller additional ones on the side, a possibility that had been raised in the past. You can read about speculation regarding these bays here. Regardless, this could possibly change in the future, but, at this time, these appear to be access doors to the engines and other systems, not auxiliary weapons bays.”

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Poagie_Mahoney@reddit

Opinion: So with that significant bulge for the "fuselage," would it still be considered a flying wing? Is it more of a blended wing, even?

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RestaurantFamous2399@reddit

I want to know what the big open door is on the top surface.

Is it replicated on the other side? Is this so the engines can breathe better at low speeds but maintain better RCS at altitude?

Is it just an APU door? Or does it run an IPP like system found in the F35s?

So many questions!

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SkylineGTRR34Freak@reddit

The B-2 has auxiliary air intake doors which it uses at low speeds like take off or landing IIRC. I'm pretty sure this is something similar

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NSYK@reddit

Expanding on that, when the FAA gives a special ferrying permit, they would generally restrict usage of unnecessary components. The landing gears would be locked off, flaps probably locked in position, and it’s possible the door was locked open as well

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IlluminatedPickle@reddit

They could also be paranoid about someone trying to pick up the thing with radar to see what it looks like.

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NSYK@reddit

That’s a whole different story, the plane should have luneberg lens radar reflectors to change the signature inside the US

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IlluminatedPickle@reddit

Absolutely, but they might not have developed and tested the right ones for use on this airframe yet.

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NSYK@reddit

It’s my understanding the devices are installed on the airframe and are something that can be toggled.

Are you suggesting this is an additional feature that has to be developed and installed?

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IlluminatedPickle@reddit

They're unique to the aircraft as I understand it, yes.

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NSYK@reddit

Right, but my understanding is it’s a feature built into the airframe that can be turned on or off by raising or lowering the device. I just don’t think it would be necessary to have the auxiliary power intake open for radar reasons, especially when you consider the landing gear had to be open the duration of the flight

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RestaurantFamous2399@reddit

I agree. Having seen a few other pictures, you can see they are 2 quite large doors near the intakes that point straight up. I believe they are auxiliary intake doors, but they are very big. I think the intakes are heavily reduced in flight for RCS.

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7stroke@reddit

I see it’s a diesel

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badaimarcher@reddit

Gonna need some mud tires and flaps for the landing gear

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XenoRyet@reddit

Got kind of a funny looking chin in this shot. Reminds me a bit of the X-32.

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jocax188723@reddit

It’s the flying wing bulge.
The Spirit has the same thing, but it’s not as obvious because the Raider’s central fuselage bulge is literally a pop-tart like square

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IlluminatedPickle@reddit

I was thinking it might be more about sweeping some of the radar return away from the rest of the airframe. But you make a good point.

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jocax188723@reddit

It’s a very precisely shaped, curved geometry radar deflecting pop tart, but it’s still a pop tart.

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IlluminatedPickle@reddit

Fair.

I wonder what flavour pop tart? I hope it isn't cinnamon.

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jocax188723@reddit

Mostly conventional high explosive, some glide bomb/cruise missile, with the occasional nuclear surprise.

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Separate-Presence-61@reddit

Its a direct result of the Tacit Blue research program, appropriately named the ugly duckling.

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Trekintosh@reddit

hhhhhhhhhhehehehehehehehe

hhoohohohohoho

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SnooHedgehogs8765@reddit

GET INY BELLEH

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okonom@reddit

I've been meaning to mess around in XFLR5 to validate this, but I think the distinctive overhand is the product of a new style of airfoil being used. I think effectively they have a supercritical airfoil for high transonic flight, then took out a second scoop at the bottom next to the leading edge to push lift up front and give the wing a neutral to positive pitching moment as would be desirable in a flying wing.

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jlobes@reddit

Got kind of a funny looking chin in this shot.

Bullfrog that swallowed a carpenter's square.

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Punkpunker@reddit

I see it as a pelican

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Duckbilling2@reddit

also,

the shins are funny looking as well.

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ElectricAccordian@reddit

Stealth Ravioli

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ExploringCT@reddit

Looks like a sleek mourning dove swooping in to eat all the seeds in my bird feeder. They leave looking like a C-5 or upside down Airbus beluga.

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rodface@reddit

Interesting date for start of testing

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master__cheef@reddit

Man imagine getting to be the pilot that flys it

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Modo44@reddit

There was a video posted a while ago showing pilot reactions as they get their fresh aircraft assignments. Strategic bombers go to the most chill dudes, ever.

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IlluminatedPickle@reddit

Well you don't want an aggressive strategic bomber pilot.

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Modo44@reddit

I didn't say it was a bad thing. Just an interesting contrast compared to the F-22 jocks.

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richdrich@reddit

Does anyone know what happens if an aircraft (AWACS, etc) with a look down radar scans the area where a stealth aircraft like the B-21 is - would it not be able to see a (moving) hole in the response from the ground?

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IlluminatedPickle@reddit

You could theoretically design an algorithm to look for "holes". But you'd be constantly seeing them. Lots of things scatter things in weird ways, especially looking down.

With modern stealth aircraft, they usually have radar returns smaller than birds. From what I understand, the current effort is to design the algorithms to look for birds doing "Jesus fuck" speeds. Previously, the radar systems just ignored returns that small because no planes were returning that small (in the post wood era) until the F-111.

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PartyLikeAByzantine@reddit

Any sensor is going to pick up noise. Background noise, self-noise, interference from someone somewhere operating in your band (inc. jamming), etc. There is always noise, especially when you're looking at the ground which has a lot of stuff that reflects radar waves in ways that are hard to handle on their own.

This is called the noise floor. Above the floor, you can separate signal from noise. Below the floor and it's basically, physically impossible to find anything. Stealth aircraft have signatures small enough that they hide in the noise floor. Jamming aircraft intentionally raise the noise floor.

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RestaurantFamous2399@reddit

Not really how radar works. AWACS dont look down. They look across from a much higher perspective with a lot more power so they have more range.

The idea of a small RCS is so that when the radar sees it. (Because it sees anything with a reflection no matter how small) the computer will filter it out as noise. Because you can't have radar seeing every little bird and insect in the air, or it would just be a mess of static on screen.

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