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US Air Force needs over 200 B-21 bombers, expert argues as maiden flight faces delays

23rd March 2023 - 15:30 GMT | by Norbert Neumann in London

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Northrop Grumman and the USAF revealed the world’s first sixth-generation stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider on 2 December in California. (Photo: US DoD)

The first flight of Northrop Grumman's B-21 Raider stealth bomber has been delayed, while experts argue the US Air Force is in need of more than 300 bombers as tensions heighten across the globe.

The USAF has said that the first flight of the Northrop Grumman-manufactured B-21 Raider stealth bomber will take place several months later than planned, despite the confidence expressed by the company a couple of months ago.

Speaking to reporters at the McAleese and Associates conference in Washington on 19 March, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said the B-21’s first flight has ‘slipped from the original schedule'.

‘There’s a baseline schedule, which is on the books,’ he said. ‘There’s been no breach of that. But with the internal schedule, there’s been a slip of a few months.’

Kendall did not

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