Basing announced for B-21 Raider
Frank Kendall, Secretary of the Air Force, has approved the second and third bases for the USAF’s new bomber, the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider. Ellsworth AFB, in South Dakota, was previously selected to be the first base that will receive the B-21, and Kendall has now confirmed that the next bases will be Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and Dyess AFB, Texas, in that order.
The Air Force is expected to purchase at least 100 B-21s, and these will replace the USAF’s B-1B Lancer and B-2A Spirit bombers from the mid-to-late 2020’s.
The B-21 Raider represents a generational leap as a stealthy, penetrating, long-range strike platform which will be both nuclear and conventionally capable. The B-21 is currently undergoing flight test and is already in low-rate production.
General Thomas Bussiere, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said: “We continue to achieve B-21 production milestones; through digital engineering and open architecture design, we are getting an agile strategic deterrent that delivers a decisive response as required.”
