Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider (LRS-B)

Scott Kenny said:
Access panels for the big fecking antennas hiding in the leading edges. Whether for EW systems or LPI radars. or both.
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The leading edge is probably a suboptimal location for radar: there is minimal vertical room to shrink the beam vertically, which might result in suboptimal gain… EW antennas are definitely doable on the leading edge though, the F-35 has them.
 
Sundog said:
They may be using the bypass air from the fan as a sheet of cooler air between the main nozzle and the upper surface and the hot core flow to help keep the upper surface somewhat cool, as opposed to completely "wrapping" the bypass air around the core flow. Also, it looks like the rear nozzles may actually be slightly higher than the rear deck of the wing, as far forward as they are, raising them up a bit from the rear surface. I also noticed the upper surface of the nozzle on the B-21 is a pointed facet, as opposed to the V-cut on the B-2 to maybe also help mixing the core and bypass flows to cool it faster? Those are just some guesses as to what they may be doing at the exhaust.
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Boundary air may be farther down the inlet duct possibly?
flateric said:
It has, yes, along forward spar
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Cove panels.
 
JJPET said:
is it really a sensor/ towed decoy or some sort of UAP :)
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It's a trailing cone. Standard for flight tests. It also has a Pitot tube as well as SS+AoA vanes on the forward-facing boom to probe the air in a rather undisturbed part of the flow. These devices are there to provide data for the calibration of the air data system (anemometry)
 

Northrop Discloses Sale Of Company-Owned B-21 Test Asset To U.S. Air Force | Aviation Week Network

Northrop Grumman says a previously undisclosed company-owned test aircraft has been sold to the USAF as part of a B-21 Raider production acceleration pact.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com

"Northrop Grumman says a previously undisclosed company-owned test aircraft has been sold to the U.S. Air Force as part of a production acceleration agreement for the B-21 Raider."
...
" It will not change the total number of B-21s that are part of the low-rate production phase of the program, Greene noted on the company’s first-quarter earnings call."
...
 
I would speculate (groundlessly) that it could be one of the three testbed CRJ-700s or the B-737 owned by the company and used for subsystem (such as radar) testing and integration. The B-2 program used an Air Force supplied NC-135A for that purpose.
 
aim9xray said:
I would speculate (groundlessly) that it could be one of the three testbed CRJ-700s or the B-737 owned by the company and used for subsystem (such as radar) testing and integration. The B-2 program used an Air Force supplied NC-135A for that purpose.
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Could be.
Though the AW-article also states: "An Air Force spokesperson confirmed the B-21 purchase."
 
A ground test B-21 airframe repurposed as a flying article?

“To support the acceleration of aircraft deliveries, we agreed to sell an aircraft to the Air Force that was previously planned to be utilized as a company-owned test asset,” CFO John Greene said April 21.

This sounds like they built another B-21 airframe for Northrop testing and have sold it the Air Force to accelerate delivery.
 
www.afa.org

Raider, Meet Raider: AFA Unveils B-21 Model at Headquarters - Air & Space Forces Association

The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) unveiled a replica of the Northrop Grumman B‑21 Raider stealth bomber at its...
www.afa.org www.afa.org

www.dvidshub.net

CSAF Wilsbach makes Doolittle Raiders toast

Air and Space Forces Association President Burt Field, left, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach and Northrup Grumman CEO Kathy Warden pose behind a model of the B-21 Raider bomber at the AAFA headquarters in Arlington, Va., April 17, 2026. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)
www.dvidshub.net www.dvidshub.net
 

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