Air Force validates B-21 Raider weapons release after test

The Air Force on Friday named the B-21 Raider a validated weapons platform after successful testing last week as the program advances on pace toward its goal of parking the stealth bombers at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, next year. 

A B-21 test aircraft flew from Edwards Air Force Base, California, during the weapons release demonstration, the service announced. The event confirmed the platform’s ability to integrate new weapons and validated its open architecture concept, advancing the program from its flight test phase to a “functional weapons platform.”  

“The B-21 is designed to deliver improved combat capability to the warfighter, combining reliability and maintainability to quickly integrate new weapons,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said in a statement. “This successful test demonstrates our ability to adapt rapidly and hold any target at risk if deterrence fails.”

Last week’s success stemmed from “thousands of hours” of digital twin simulations, according to the announcement, which gave the B-21 Combined Test Force the tools to speed up weapons integration without physically flying the aircraft. 

“B-21 is another step closer to giving the U.S. unrivaled deterrence,” Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems, said in a statement. 

“As we’ve heard from our Air Force partners, the B-21 Combined Test Force is the envy of the entire test community for its sustained rapid test pace and progress,” he added. “Northrop Grumman is turning advanced technology into real capability and delivering with both performance and speed.”

Northrop Grumman, which builds the aircraft, is ramping up production and testing ahead of that timeline, the company said in its own announcement. The contractor recently cut the ribbon on a 265,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Layton, Utah. It is also building a final assembly facility at Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, adding a million square feet to the production line. 

The Air Force did not clarify what weapon was involved in the recent demonstration, just that the B-21 test aircraft “released a conventional weapon,” according to the announcement.

A Northrop spokesperson referred DefenseScoop to the Air Force. A spokesperson for the Air Force told DefenseScoop there were no other “releaseable details” related to the test, citing operational security concerns. 

The sixth-generation bomber program is on schedule and is slated to “have aircraft on the ramp” at Ellsworth Air Force Base next year, according to the announcement.

“This weapons test proves the B-21 program is excelling,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach said in a statement. “We are building an impressive fleet that will give our joint force credible, penetrating strike options for decades to come.”

Wilsbach, who was sworn in last November, has named the B-21 Raider program as one of his main modernization priorities.