Our fifth generation global precision attack platform will give our
country a networked sensor shooter capability enabling us to hold targets at risk anywhere in
the world in a way that our adversaries have never seen, James said when revealing the image last year.
However while air force developers say the emerging b-21 will introduce new stealth
technologies better suited to elude cutting-edge air defenses.
Russian media reports have recently
claimed that stealth technology is useless against their air defenses. Russian-built S-300 and S-400 air defenses are believed to be among the best in the world. In addition the national interest has reported that russia is now working on an s 500 system
able to destroy even stealthy targets at distances up to 125 miles.
Nevertheless James added that the
new bomber will be able to play against the real threats. Although official details about the B-21R quite naturally not available some observers have pointed out that the early graphic rendering of
the plane does not show exhaust pipes at all. This could mean that the air force has found
a new method or releasing fumes or reducing the heat signature of the new stealth plane.
The new bomber called the B-21 was formally named the raider through a formal naming
competition involving members of the air force, their families and other participants. the air
force has awarded a production contract to northrop grumman to engineer its new bomber. The LRSB will be a next generation stealth aircraft designed to introduce new stealth
technology and fly alongside and ultimately replace the service's existing B-2 bomber.
With LRSB i can take off from the continental united states and fly for a very long way. I don't have to worry about getting permission to land at another base and worry about having
somebody try to target the aircraft. The service plans to field the new bomber by the mid-2022s.
The air force plans to acquire as many as 80 to 100 new bombers for a price of
roughly 550 million dollars per plane in 2010. Although there is not much publicly
available information when it comes to stealth technology, industry sources have
explained that the lrsb is being designed to elude the world's most advanced radar systems.
For instance lower frequency surveillance radar allows enemy air defenses to know that an
aircraft is in the vicinity and higher frequency engagement radar allows integrated air defenses
to target a fast-moving aircraft. The concept with the new bomber is to engineer a next generation
stealth configuration able to evade both surveillance and engagement radar technologies. The idea is to design a bomber able to fly, operate and strike anywhere in the world
without an enemy even knowing an aircraft is there.
This was the intention of the original B-2 bomber
which functioned in that capacity for many years, until technological advances in air defense made
it harder for it to avoid detection completely. The new aircraft is being engineered to evade
increasingly sophisticated air defenses. Which now use faster processors, digital networking
and sensors to track even stealthy aircraft on a wider range of frequencies at longer ranges. These frequencies include UHF, VHF and X-Band among others.
Stealth Technology, stealth technology works by engineering an aircraft with external
contours and heat signatures designed to elude detection from enemy radar systems. At the same time advanced in air defense technologies are also leading developers
to look at stealth configurations as merely one arrow in the quiver of techniques which can be
employed to elude enemy defenses. Particularly in the case of future fighter aircraft.
New stealthy aircraft will also likely use speed, long-range sensors and maneuverability
as additional tactics intended to evade enemy air defenses. In addition to stealth because stealth
configurations alone will increasingly be more challenged as technology continues to advance. However stealth technology is itself advancing and it is being applied to the B-21, according to senior air force leaders who naturally did not wish to elaborate on the subject.
Although the new image of lrsb does look somewhat like the existing B-2. Air force officials maintain
the new bomber's stealth technology will far exceed the capabilities of the b2. At the same time the B-2 is being upgraded with a new technology called defensive management system. A system which better enables the B-2 to know the location of enemy air defenses.
Prior to awarding the contract to northrop, the air force worked closely with a number of defense
companies as part of a classified research and technology phase. So far the service has made a
one billion dollars technology investment in the bomber. The long-range strike bomber will be built
upon what the air force calls an open systems architecture. An engineering technique which
designs the platform in a way that allows it to quickly integrate new technologies as they emerge.
Air force leaders have said the aircraft will likely be engineered to fly unmanned
missions as well as manned missions. The new aircraft will be designed to have global reach
in part by incorporating a large arsenal of long-range weapons.
The LRSB is being
engineered to carry existing weapons as well as nuclear bombs and emerging and future weapons. We're going to have a system that will be able to evolve for the future. It will give national decision authorities a resource that they
will be able to use if needed to hold any target that we need to prosecute at risk.
