US Air Force LRS-B Bomber Thread - the B-21 Raider

The Aviationist asks Are We Seeing B-21 Raider Development and Testing Activity at Area 51?
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With New Projects in Development, and New Construction, The Area is Ramping Up.
We’re not sure what is happening inside (and close to) the restricted
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, but after visiting the area earlier this month, we are reasonably certain something significant is taking place right now. The massive area, reported to be 4,531 square miles, is one of the most secure national security sites and is closed to the public.

Earlier this month we drove the remote roads along the perimeter of the NTTR between Las Vegas, Nevada and Beatty, Nevada on the way to and from the
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low-level flying area in Death Valley National Park. While this is one of the emptiest, most barren stretches of paved highway in the U.S. in just a few hours we made a number of interesting observations.

Sometime after 3:00 AM across from Creech AFB we saw a military-aged male with a beard in civilian clothes and a medium-sized piece of luggage or large lunch box board an airport-style shuttle bus and drive away on Highway 95 west of Creech. The vehicle drove a significant distance west and north on the highway before we lost sight of it. There is almost nothing out there. On the trip back that night
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in the dark west-bound on Highway 95. Earlier in the day someone had gotten photos of it by the side of the road.

In less than 24 hours, on one stretch of road at the outskirts of a massive 4,000+ mile testing range, we saw that much activity.

Moreover, the following day, on Nov. 14, an authority on the area referred to only as “G” of lazygranch.com, shot photos of an
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. The very same day, in the afternoon a similar (or maybe the same with a diffirent configuration) two-seat F-16, carrying the Lockheed Martin’s AN/AAS-42, an
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pod (theoretically capable to detect stealth aircraft by their IR signature), with sparse markings was photographed flying through the Jedi Transition. The
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. The patches suggest the crew are associated with the famous “Red Hats” opposing forces test unit and the 53rd TEG Det 3, the unit thought to have replaced the 4477th “Red Eagles”, another opposing force simulation and testing unit.

Separate and additionally from those sightings near or around Tonopah Test Range, journalist Tyler Rogoway at The War Zone, has been a keen observer of the Nevada Test and Training Range. Rogoway
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notably, a new “U” shaped taxiway, vehicle roadway and most interestingly, a large aircraft hangar.

If you compare satellite imagery of Area 51 beginning in 1984 you see a progression of small changes followed by the significant addition of a long, second, parallel runway. Work on the second runway began in 1990 and seemed complete in about 1992. From 1999-2000 several new buildings appeared in satellite photos. In 2001-2002 an intermediate vehicle road connecting taxiways and runways was built. And most recently, in 2013, a major new construction project began at the southwest corner of the area. Soon after, in July 2014, the U.S. Air Force issued a request for proposal for a new,
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. The project became the LRS-B. From 2014 to 2016 a large, new hangar was built at the southwestern corner of the facility. The structure appears to be nearly large enough to house an aircraft the size of the current B-1B Lancer bomber.

The latest satellite photos show what appears to be new engine test facilities, and most significantly, the southern taxiways and hangar in new-looking condition. Comparing the satellite photos of the facility going back to 1984, the two most significant, visible expansions are the second runway in 1990 and the new southwest square taxiway and hangar building beginning in 2014.

Noted aerospace imaging expert Al Clark told TheAviationist.com, “In the general Groom Lake image our best reference is one of the F-16s parked on the west side of the base. The F-16 length is approximately 50-feet. Building number one, which is almost directly west of the F-16s is approximately 120’x120’. It looks to be an engine test/run-up hangar. The building that is more interesting is approximately 250-feet wide by a length of 275-feet. This is interesting because the B-2 wingspan is only 172-feet, so this is [possibly] designed to house large aircraft, in my opinion possibly the B-21 Raider. To the southwest of that structure it looks like what could be a weapons storage facility. The smaller bunker is approximately 75-feet long by 30-feet wide, and the larger bunker is approximately 75-feet wide and 100-feet long. Those are fairly large weapons bunkers. The general placement of the munitions depot tells me that there is something pretty volatile in it because they are keeping it away from the main base at Groom Lake.”

Is what we are seeing evidence of the LRS-B program development and the
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? While there are likely several other major developmental programs underway including a new manned or unmanned reconnaissance and strike platform (the
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spy drone is one of them), LRS-B and B-21 are the most mature and most talked about in official channels and, as a result, most conclusions point to something related to their development out at Area 51 in the new hangar.

Prior to her departure from the office, former Air Force Secretary Deborah James told media, “Our 5th 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.” Her comments about the LRS-B program and B-21 acknowledge both the capability and necessity of the program, and may suggest the urgency of it as the Air Force maintains its small fleet of B-2 Spirit low-observable long range strike aircraft against a growing demand for its unique capability.

That might mean we are seeing the B-21 Raider development program take shape right under our noses at Area 51. Or this is what they want us to believe.
source:
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now noticed (dated Nov 28, 2017) B-21 Raider Headed Toward Critical Design Review, RCO Says
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Since being stood up in April 2003, the U.S. Air Force’s shadowy Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) has expanded significantly, now overseeing 30 weapons programs valued at more than $30 billion over the next five years.

The jewel in the organization’s crown, however, is the
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B-21 Raider, which now accounts for “about half” of the RCO’s total workload.

One of the Air Force’s top three acquisition programs, work on the nuclear-capable, optionally-piloted stealth bomber began in February 2016, and the program is now marching toward a critical design review within the next year or so.

Speaking at an Association of Old Crows conference in Washington on Nov. 28, RCO Director Randall Walden says his organization’s aim is to deliver the heavy bomber on cost, which requires minimizing schedule delays. The RCO is uniquely suited to this task, he says, because of its direct access to decision makers.

The organization’s board of directors includes the Pentagon’s top acquisition official, Ellen Lord, as well as Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein.

“It’s not easy to go and build a next-generation stealth bomber, but all of the indicators suggest we’re successfully executing the program,” Walden says. “We’re focused on getting to the critical design review, and getting those drawings in place and starting to build this bomber.”

Of the RCO’s 220 personnel—a mix of military, civilian and contractor positions—half are focused on the bomber. Senior program officials are headquartered at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, close to the Pentagon, White House and Capitol Hill. About 80% of the other staff are at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, home of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. Another contingent is at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, according to Walden’s slide presentation.

The B-21 team successfully completed an integrated baseline review of the flying-wing bomber in November 2016 and passed through the preliminary design review stage earlier this year. The requirements and basic design of the aircraft should now be firm.

Walden confirms that the production target remains 100 bombers, and the first operational unit should be ready for service by the mid-2020s.

The B-21 is the Air Force’s largest development program, requiring $13.5 billion in funding through fiscal 2022, according to the service’s budget request.

It is the RCO’s greatest undertaking in its 14-year history, which includes the development of the
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X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle and establishment of an integrated air defense system around Washington.

Most of the organization’s programs are veiled in secrecy, and the B-21 is no exception. The service has released scarcely any details, except top-line budget numbers, an artist’s rendering and a list of key suppliers.

Not only does the B-21 program employ roughly half of the RCO’s staff, it’s the largest single slice of the group’s $30 billion program portfolio. The remaining 29 programs, most of which are hidden from public view, must be collectively worth about $16.5 billion across the Air Force’s budget plan, spanning fiscal 2018-22.

Walden says the RCO doesn’t seek further expansion, contending that it is busy enough already. The board of directors ultimately decides which projects RCO takes on. “[But] I don’t want to do everything,” he says.

Walden says “rapid” acquisition is best achieved by compressing the front-end work of defining the requirements; picking a winning industry team; and getting them on contract. The RCO’s B-21 program couldn’t avoid a bid protest by the loser, Boeing, but the
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ultimately ruled in its favor and Boeing’s leadership stepped back from a potential legal challenge.

Even though it strives to go fast, the RCO must still abide by laws of “acquisition physics.”

“Building a new weapon system takes X-amount of years [no matter what],” Walden explains. “It takes about three to five years to build an airplane—to do it right. The prototype takes maybe a couple of years.”

The Raider is being designed by Northrop engineers in Melbourne, Florida, and will likely be assembled in Palmdale, California, with parts shipped in from across the U.S. The aircraft will initially augment, and then replace, Air Force Global Strike Command’s legacy Boeing B-1, B-52 and Northrop B-2 fleets, depending on the final quantity. Global Strike hopes to eventually expand its bomber fleet to about 175 or more aircraft.
 
waiting for today's midnight in DC, Failure to Pass Appropriations Bill Could Delay B-21 Program: Official
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The B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber program may be shortchanged or potentially delayed if Congress
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after continuing resolution instead of buckling down to
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, the undersecretary of the
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said Thursday.

The B-21 -- the Pentagon's latest classified, multi-billion-dollar program in
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-- will suffer if the budget remains capped at the previous year's levels under a CR, said Matthew Donovan, who assumed his position in August.
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"A long-term CR will limit execution of the engineering, manufacturing and development phase, the EMD phase of the B-21," said Donovan, a former
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pilot.

"We would be limited to the [fiscal 2017] funding level, which is far below the FY18 budget request," he said at an Air Force Association event on Capitol Hill. "This will have the effect of postponing delivery of the critical strategic capability to the joint warfighter."

The Air Force awarded Northrop the contract,
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, in 2015. Program costs are
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The first B-21 is still expected to reach initial operating capability in the mid-2020s, Donovan said.

"Our FY 2017 budget is $1.3 billion, but our FY18 request is $2 billion, so if we're not able to ramp up on our schedule for the acquisition program baseline, then of course it's going to have an impact on it," he said. "We can't make up that time."

The B-21, which will eventually replace a portion of the
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fleet, will have both nuclear and non-nuclear roles. The B-21 will be able to go after multiple targets conventionally but be capable of carrying out only one nuke drop at a time, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said last year.

"A penetrating bomber, like the B-21, that can only drop gravity bombs and attack how many targets at once with a nuclear weapon? The answer is one," Gen. John Hyten told audiences
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in Washington, D.C., in September.

"That means that every B-21 only goes after one target" in a nuclear scenario, he said.

Reviewing Air Force Programs
Donovan reiterated the service's need to review all of its programs before the fiscal 2020 budget is drafted.

"In preparation for the fiscal year 2020 bill, we're executing a zero-based review of programs, budget lines and manpower authorizations," he said. The Air Force
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.

"This hasn't been done in over two decades in the Air Force," said Donovan, who prior to taking the undersecretary position was the majority policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He said it's not so much about the budget itself, but more about strategy going forward.

"The idea here is to get after the relevancy of what we're doing -- we'll look at each and every program requirement to see if it's increasing our lethality for the future threat environment," he said.

When asked if one particular or over-budgeted program -- such as the
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-- caused the review, Donovan said, "No...it's just something, to be honest … because of the way the [Planning, Programming Budgeting and Execution] is set up, senior leaders don't really get a lot of visibility into the majority of the budget because they're only looking at the changes from [the previous] year. So I think it's time."
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
waiting for today's midnight in DC, Failure to Pass Appropriations Bill Could Delay B-21 Program: Official
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The B-21 Raider is going to be another US game changer.

It will continue on the usccess of the B-2...only a generation newer. Right now most would consider the B-2 a 5th gen aircraft. I blieve the B-21 will be the first large production 6th generation aircraft.

It will advance the already very advanced stealth and other B-2 technology to keep this aircraft in the lead for another 30 years, out into the 2050s.

B-21-Artist-Rendering.jpg
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
I hope it won't go in the direction of LCSs, Zumwalts, F-35s and other, two pair of double quotes, game changers
The F-35 is doing just fine Jura...it IS game changer.

The Zumwalt was cut to 3 ships by foolishness and that changed it...but it will still ultimately be game changer because it will pave the way for the future.

And the LCS will be uparmed and lead to the FF coning after it.

QUite frankly, the 8 years of Obama and his appointees and then the people those appointees hired have been a diaster for the US armed forces. But we will come back from it. We came back from Carter...and then later most of the way bak from Clinton. We will suirvivie the Obama era too.
 
The F-35 is doing just fine Jura...it IS game changer.

The Zumwalt was cut to 3 ships by foolishness and that changed it...but it will still ultimately be game changer because it will pave the way for the future.

And the LCS will be uparmed and lead to the FF coning after it.

QUite frankly, the 8 years of Obama and his appointees and then the people those appointees hired have been a diaster for the US armed forces. But we will come back from it. We came back from Carter...and then later most of the way bak from Clinton. We will suirvivie the Obama era too.
at first I thought I'd leave it, but later was thinking about the situation and decided to say how I see it:
  • in the USN top brass, there have been two groups:
    1. one oriented towards readiness (related of course to proper maintenance; long training; sufficient testing etc.),
    2. the other group are so called visionaries with the concept of "distributed lethality" who are full of network-centric ultimately revolutionazing naval warfare ... ideas
    the visionaries with their LCSs and Zumwalts prevailed, and I'd prefer not to comment any more;
  • in the USAF top brass, there's just one group:
    F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth
    and who doesn't like it, goes

    this group is looking for every billion to be poured into F-35s, in the process of course trying to kill A-10s, not upgrading Raptors much etc.

time will tell the rest
 
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now
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It’s explicit:
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is the Air Force’s “pacing threat.” That was the clearest message from Air Force Secretary
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, who met with the press the day after
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China’s rapid modernization is driving the Air Force to respond, Wilson said, though she declined to detail any of the service’s efforts beyond noting the PRC’s anti-satellite test.

While Wilson didn’t say it,
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long range, stealth, electronic and cyber warfare capabilities make it a key part of our response to China. So, I asked the secretary, does the fact the service has announced it will retire B-1s and B-2s as the B-21 comes online reflect that the service is confident in the new bomber program? She didn’t really reply other than to offer that the program is on schedule, an important fact in and of itself but…. After she recited the basics of the program — we’ll buy “at least” 100 B-21s of the 175-bomber fleet — she stopped. I asked if that meant she wouldn’t tell us anything about the B-21, and she graciously laughed and said, yes.

This won’t be so funny to Senate Armed Services chairman
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, who’s leveled his trademark ire on the Air Force for being so unforthcoming about the highly classified B-21 program.

Another colleague asked Sec. Wilson about the size of the bomber fleet and she did seem to hint that the service may buy more B-21s because they are “looking at” their force structure as a result of the findings of the
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.

Wilson added that the service will finally make decisions on the UH-1 helicopter replacement and
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this year. The UH-1s will be replaced by a faster, longer-range helicopter able to carry more weight. The mission is two-fold: provide response to threats to nuclear weapons in the missile fields and escorts to weapons being moved and move senior government leaders to safety in the event of a serious threat. One can only wait….and probably wait some more, since Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky just filed a “pre-award protest” with the Government Accountability Office about how the Air Force is assessing
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.

We bet
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of Strategic Command will have something to say if that helicopter decision doesn’t happen soon.

The T-X has languished for years but seemed poised to finally be awarded this year. Then Congress did its usual fine job of not passing any regular spending bills, making it impossible for the Air Force to award the deal. Now we have a two-year budget deal, which should give the service relatively free rein to act, especially with
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and
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.
it's BreakingDefense
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Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
at first I thought I'd leave it, but later was thinking about the situation and decided to say how I see it:
  • in the USN top brass, there have been two groups:
    1. one oriented towards readiness (related of course to proper maintenance; long training; sufficient testing etc.),
    2. the other group are so called visionaries with the concept of "distributed lethality" who are full of network-centric ultimately revolutionazing naval warfare ... ideas
    the visionaries with their LCSs and Zumwalts prevailed, and I'd prefer not to comment any more;
  • in the USAF top brass, there's just one group:
    F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth F-35 stealth
    and who doesn't like it, goes

    this group is looking for every billion to be poured into F-35s, in the process of course trying to kill A-10s, not upgrading Raptors much etc.

time will tell the rest

and NOW, that dead Israeli F-16 is beyond proof positive, 4 Gens, and old, slo 3rd Gens like A-10 will die in vast numbers if sufficient F-35s are not in place to do the serious SAM killing UP FRONT!

those A-10s have never been operated in a "poisonous" G2A environment, and if they had been, you too would know and understand the truth.. now those F-16s have done pretty well up until now, and F-16s and F-15E's handle the "heavy lifting" A2G work already,, but the A-10 has a number of archaic supporters, and if all you had to do was "blast the sand people"?? (this is a Star Wars reference bro!) the A-10 would be great, (and yes I love the GAU-8 too), but we are now lining up to "play" the NFL, (NO FLYING LEAGUE), without the F-22 and F-35, we're gonna be big losers..

I can't help it if the USN has spent all their Peso's on LCS, Ford, and three Zummie's with no booolets?? they're going to buy another 100 or so Hornet's and hope for the best?

USAF and USMC are investing heavily in 5 Gen, because they will be doing the "first day" heavy lifting,, they fly the current 4Gens down on the dirt, and that is very dangerous, the 5Gen will get out of the dirt, and maintain air-superiority from the "canyon rim", a much safer place!

Even the B-52 and B-1 operate on the dirt, and that is dangerous, we've lost a number doing low altitude "penetrations" and practicing same..
 
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and NOW, that dead Israeli F-16 is beyond proof positive, 4 Gens, and old, slo 3rd Gens like A-10 will die in vast numbers if sufficient F-35s are not in place to do the serious SAM killing UP FRONT!

...
well the development phase of F-35 is over (almost, there's several hundreds mil still needed but who would mention it), so I guess within several years (in 2020s) we'll hear about its combat actions (not just about so called phenomenal performance at Red Flag etc.)
 
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