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Air Force RCO: December 2021 ‘Earliest’ Target Date for B-21 First Flight

Air Force RCO: December 2021 ‘Earliest’ Target Date for B-21 First Flight
Artist's rendering of the Air Force's Long Range Strike Bomber, designated B-21. Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor for the program, doesn't mention the B-21 in its earnings releases because it is classified. The company said classified manned aircraft contributed to higher sales in 2019 and will do so again in 2020. Image: Air Force.

The Air Force’s next-generation nuclear bomber is winding its way through production, but don’t expect to see it flying until December 2021 at the earliest, the service’s rapid capabilities office (RCO) director said Oct. 24. The service has its first B-21 Raider test jet moving through production at prime contractor Northrop Grumman’s [NOC] facilities in Palmdale, California, said Randall Walden at an Air Force Association breakfast event on Capitol Hill. “There’s real work on the production line, literally today,” he…

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