Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider (LRS-B)

I believe @flateric has stated this multiple times for some time now in this thread and most recently in the Chinese CCA thread.
 
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My thoughts too Scott Kenny about the B-21 weapons testing, I thought that they would have kept that for the third or even the fourth prototype. Unless NG want to accelerate testing and get the B-21 into production quicker.
 
A new high-quality photo of the B-21 bomber during a test flight has been published, showing the narrow-profile, upward-oriented “beaver tail” type turbofan nozzles that provide an extremely low infrared (IR) signature.

Last week, the second B-21 Raider stealth bomber took to the skies for the first time, flying from U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale to Edwards Air Force Base in California. The new photograph by Jarrod Hamilton, taken shortly after takeoff, offers a fresh look at the exhaust system of the new bomber’s engines.

Contrary to many observers’ initial impressions after the first photo, it now turns out that the B-21 employs an exhaust system very similar to that of the B-2A Spirit (Photo 3). This design is intended to minimize the engines’ infrared visibility, thus enhancing the aircraft’s stealth.

It is very likely that, as with the B-2A, air from auxiliary intakes is also mixed with the hot exhaust gases, further reducing temperature and the IR signature. The most notable difference is the absence of the serrated trailing edge directly behind the B-2A’s exhaust outlet, which on the B-21 has been replaced by a straight edge.

A similar nozzle configuration with a cooling contour (but with top shielding) was implemented on the stealthy AGM-129 ACM strategic cruise missile (range up to 3,700 km; now retired; Photo 4).

Therefore, the estimated detection range of the B-21 by the IR sensor of the Su-35S fighter’s multispectral electro-optical ОЛС-35 complex may be only about 10–20 km in the forward hemisphere and 20–35 km in the rear. The radar cross-section (RCS) of the B-21 is about 0.01–0.03 m² shape wise, but probably is much reduced by the use of advanced coating.
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Source: https://t.me/the_Right_People/56277
 

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B-21 doesn't have SAFS auxiliary intakes as B-2 and top exhausts lips have single chevrons pointed back (that was known two years ago) so this 'analysis' is BS.
 

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flateric said:
B-21 doesn't have SAFS auxiliary intakes as B-2 and top exhausts lips have single chevrons pointed back (that was known two years ago) so this 'analysis' is BS.
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The exhausts are almost inlet looking, evolution.
 
As a reminder:

The aircraft is the fourth B-21 overall, as the current fleet now includes two aircraft dedicated to ground testing, designated G-1 and G-2, and the two flight test aircraft, designated T-1 and T-2. Airframe T-1 flew for the first time on Nov. 10, 2023, while it is unclear when G-1 and G-2 joined the fleet.
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Source
 
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Just finished listening to Norhrop's Q3 earnings call. The most interesting thing about the call is that absolutely no one asked about Trump's cryptic remark about 28 more B-2's. Go figure.
As for B-21 news, Kathy Warden said that discussions concerning accelerated production are continuing, and she is hopeful of having a resolution "in a few months". Northrop expects a timely exercise of Lot 3 LRIP in the coming quarter, as well as a long lead authorization on Lot 5. They have increased their estimates at completion of currently authorized LRIP lots, but this additional loss is offset by a "restructuring" of later LRIP contract options.
 
kmrumble said:
Just finished listening to Norhrop's Q3 earnings call. The most interesting thing about the call is that absolutely no one asked about Trump's cryptic remark about 28 more B-2's. Go figure.
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They are just ignoring stupid ramblings.
 
kmrumble said:
As for B-21 news, Kathy Warden said that discussions concerning accelerated production are continuing, and she is hopeful of having a resolution "in a few months".
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This is interesting, because Congress already obligated that additional $4.5B to NG for the B-21 via the reconciliation bill. The assumption was that this included funding for an increase in the production rate.
 
joshjosh said:
This is interesting, because Congress already obligated that additional $4.5B to NG for the B-21 via the reconciliation bill. The assumption was that this included funding for an increase in the production rate.
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It is possible the money was not actually spent that way, at least not yet. There seems to be an awfully lot of hand wringing over increasing production capacity. Apparently USAF has always feared that a program with more ambitious production rates would have its budget threatened. It seems like a rather over cautious attitude in the age of what is basically a new Cold War.
 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPNLrTPnbPs

seems cat ears TE is now serrated? either this was not apparent in photos before or follows trend of TE/LE of panels being modified on Cerberus (ex. aft topside thermal panel). Looking back at older pictures, I lean towards the latter. Clearly they have not modified the actual size of aux. air intake (size of white-colored portion), but just the paneling.
Screenshot 2025-10-23 110029.png

Screenshot 2025-10-23 110009.png Screenshot 2025-10-23 105947.png
 
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4decaa said:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPNLrTPnbPs

seems cat ears TE is now serrated? either this was not apparent in photos before or follows trend of TE/LE of panels being modified on Cerberus (ex. aft topside thermal panel). Looking back at older pictures, I lean towards the latter. Clearly they have not modified the actual size of aux. air intake (size of white-colored portion), but just the paneling.
View attachment 789175

View attachment 789176View attachment 789177
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These serrations should have been there from the beginning……

（I guess we're all blind.o_O）



IMG_7166.jpeg
 

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Looking through my archive of B-21 photographs (containing both official and private pictures), it's hard to say since when T-1 has had serrated auxiliary air intakes. The majority of photos are either too grainy or too compressed to confidently say whether the shape is straight or serrated. The most compelling photo I found for a serrated panel is from the first flight on 2023/11/10, photographed by David Swanson. If you pay attention to how the light hits the left-side panel, it can be inferred that it has a serrated shape.

As for T-2 (assuming anyone wasn't sure), it is clear that it has had serrated auxiliary air intakes from the start. This is clearly evident in photograph 250911-F-AF000-1001 that was released on DVIDS.

4decaa said:
Photo of T-1, 2023, pre-test configuration
...no way that's serrated? IDK. Need the opinion of a user with better eyeballs than mine.
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Looking at both my version and your version of the photo (221202-F-XX000-0003), it can't be said for sure. To my eyes, at least, the panel appears like a straight edge; but as I said above, the image is too compressed to say what its shape is with any certainty.


Edit: I want to additionally mention that it can just as easily be argued that T-1 had a straight edge in the photo (and at that point in time) that I provided. If you focus on the shadow of the right-side panel (or look at the many other photos from the event), you can infer that it has a straight shape. Personally, I don't think the current pool of visual information is enough to pin point when the serrated panel was first added.
 

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