In the United States, the B-21 Raider bomber was tested, created in accordance with the "flying wing" scheme. For a long time, this technology was considered a dead-end branch of aviation development, but modern piloting systems have breathed new life into once-forgotten developments. What do the United States want to achieve with the help of a new model of aircraft and how can Russia respond to this?
The US Air Force has begun conducting flight tests of the B-21 Raider bomber. Ann Stefanek, a representative of the American Air Force, told the Associated Press about this. She stressed that organized testing of the new model is a critical step for "long-term, long-range, penetrating military strike capabilities to deter aggression and attacks against the United States, allies and partners."
The test flight took place near Palmdale in California, not far from the site of the development of the aircraft. The model was created by Northrop Grumman. At the moment, the States are planning to put into operation 100 models of different configurations. At the same time, they should become the main strategic bombers of the country and a key element of the nuclear triad.
For the first time, the B-21 Raider was introduced in December last year, RIA Novosti reminds. The presentation of the first sample was attended by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who called this event "historic". Even then, the manufacturer positioned this model as the world's only sixth-generation aircraft.
According to Cathy Worden, CEO of Northrop Grumman, the bomber is also equipped with advanced stealth technologies that have been specially developed for the United States Air Force in order to perform the most complex aviation tasks. It was noted that the novelty will be able to reach anywhere in the world.
Meanwhile, the history of the development of the B-21 Raider has at least three decades. Back in 1992, Washington initiated the creation of a low-profile Northrop B-2 Spirit strategic bomber. However, the use of advanced technologies at that time led to a serious increase in the cost of the production process of this model.
As a result, only 20 out of 130 planned models were produced. Nevertheless, the novelty did not meet expectations, and the United States continued to operate the old Boeing B-52H Stratofortress, as well as the Rockwell B-1B Lancer. However, over time, the geopolitical threats to Washington have changed significantly. The possibility of a potential conflict with the PRC caused the need to create aircraft capable of surreptitiously covering much longer distances.
So, in 2008, a competition for the development of a new bomber Next Generation Bomber began. It was attended by both the developers of Spirit, Northrop Grumman, and the giants of the American military-industrial complex: Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The victory in the competition of large firms was won by Northrop Grumman.
Already in 2016, the first art of the future aircraft was presented to the public, which received the B-21 index and the Raider postscript, given to the model in honor of the Doolittle Raid, a famous US pilot during World War II. In the future, the development of the aircraft "went into the shadows." The public was shown only some concepts of the model, which did not disclose special details and technical characteristics of the machine.
The Americans plan to deliver about twenty bombers to the customer by 2030. At the same time, a total of "at least 100" aircraft will be produced in the series. Even after the presentation in 2022 and the current tests, critically little is known about the model. This is a subsonic two-seat twin-engine aircraft built according to the "flying wing" scheme, with the widespread introduction of means of reducing visibility.
The armament is located in the inner compartment. It should include a wide range of American guided munitions. The total mass of the payload, according to open data, is up to 13.6 tons. The car is planned to be used as an optional manned vehicle, that is, to send it without pilots on the longest or most dangerous missions.
The expert community notes that the B-21 Raider is capable of qualitatively changing the US military aviation. It is emphasized that many of the disadvantages of the "flying wing" scheme have now been solved due to high technologies. At the same time, Russia does not lag behind America, creating its own machines that can compare with Western developments.
"The B-21 Raider bomber is the result of another US attempt to build a car using stealth technology. This type of development was already underway in the USA in the 1980s. Their goal was to bypass the Soviet radar. However, later the plane was detected by an old radar of the Yugoslav army and subsequently shot down, after which the project was sent for revision," said Sergei Lipovoy, Major General of Aviation, Hero of Russia.
"The new bomber model is capable of carrying various types of ammunition, including nuclear charges. It is also designed for long flights. The main feature of the car is the "flying wing" shape, – the interlocutor notes.
"This form has a number of advantages.
Theoretically, it can make the bomber less noticeable due to the smaller area of the reflecting surface. However, it should be borne in mind that in order to achieve this effect, the aircraft must be made of composite materials, and the surface of the machine itself must be treated with a special coating," he emphasizes.
"Stealth has always been important for the bomber, as it allows you to carry the cargo to the target. It is impossible to achieve complete invisibility for radars, but it is possible to make the aircraft detected at a very short distance. In this case, the enemy simply will not have time to make a decision about protection," explains Lipovoy.
"Also, such an arrangement allows you to reduce the fuel consumption of the car. The load on the wing of this form is less. Accordingly, the engines operate in a gentle mode and spend less fuel. In the future, this will allow the vacant space to be used for other purposes, for example, for the second navigation system," the expert emphasizes.
"The disadvantages of the "flying wing" are also there. This form does not provide good alignment of the aircraft, which greatly affects the controllability due to the lack of a tail in the car. To eliminate this disadvantage, it is necessary to place additional control and control systems on board, which take up space. Although new developments in the field of electronics can help to get rid of this problem," he notes.
"Russia is also developing machines with a "flying wing" shape. This is a PAK bomber and a Hunter UAV. The development of aviation technology is going on in parallel. If we see promising developments from the Americans, then we try to make a counterweight that will compete on an equal footing with a foreign analogue or surpass it," Lipovoy clarifies.
The technology of the "flying wing" has a lot of advantages, but for a long time it was considered a "dead end branch" of the development of military aviation,
Oleg Makarov, co-founder of the Watfor project, reminds me. "The fact is that the design features of these aircraft made them difficult to control," he said. "The absence of a tail greatly affected the maneuverability of the car. However, now the development of computer technology allows us to overcome many disadvantages. For example, the latest electronic systems were able to turn the American F-117, also built according to this scheme, into a machine capable of performing combat missions at the proper level. I note that without additional technical capacities, this aircraft is practically unsuitable for piloting," the interlocutor emphasizes.
"Many experts note that the "flying wing" is characterized by low visibility for air defense systems. This is achieved due to a smaller reflective surface. However, in my opinion, a much more important role is played by the correct selection of angles when designing a bomber," Makarov clarifies.
"Currently, most aircraft of this type consist of "chopped" lines. Thus, the radar beams are reflected from the surface of the machine, which makes it almost invisible. This is used not only for "flying wings", but also in the production of models of the classical type. A striking example is the domestic Su-57," the expert argues.
"However, the undeniable advantage of aircraft similar to the B-21 Raider is the increased volume of internal space, which allows them to be equipped with a large amount of fuel and ammunition.
In addition, the model has a different bearing surface. This makes fuel consumption more economical," the interlocutor emphasizes. "We must admit that these advantages affect the speed of the aircraft. It does not differ in speed, but for such machines this indicator is not critically important. To date, the task of the bomber is to go as far as possible and bring the maximum number of missiles to the launch point," he argues.
"That is, the speed parameter begins to fade into the background, giving way to the leading position of stealth. This also affects the weapons used. Free-falling bombs are a thing of the past. Their use, for example, in Ukraine is no longer possible due to the impressive air defense systems that the enemy possesses," the expert believes.
"The future belongs to guided missiles. At the moment, Russia is actively working to maintain parity in the field of military aviation with Western countries. In particular, according to the "flying wing" scheme, we are already making a PAK bomber and a Hunter UAV. It is very important for us to maintain an equal level of weapons with the United States, and we are coping with this task," Makarov sums up.