US Air Force unveils new $692 million stealth bomber

The United States Air Force has unveiled its latest stealth plane, the B-21 Raider, a long-range bomber designed to be flown either by a pilot or remotely.

The bomber, expected to be deployed by the middle of the decade, is designed to be flown by a pilot or remotely.

Per Second News reports that the B-21’s average procurement price per plane has remained below its $550 million target, measured in fiscal 2010 dollars.

Maj Joshua Benedetti, a US Air Force spokesman, also said in a statement that the adjusted cost for inflation is about $692 million,

The US Air Force has described it as part of a “family of systems, implying that it is the node of a larger, distributed network of sensors and communications, not all of which may have been publicly disclosed”, the Congressional Research Service said.

The nuclear-capable bomber is of a similar “flying wing” design to the B-2 plane that it is replacing. The B-21 programme is worth $203 billion and includes a fleet of 100 bombers.

The B-21 also features more durable, stealth-enabling low observable surface material that will require less maintenance and keep operations costs and downtime to a minimum, Northrop Grumann executive Doug Young revealed.