MW: The newest Russian bomber lags behind American and Chinese competitors

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In July 2019, construction began on the first prototype of America's newest strategic stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider. June 8, 2021 Assistant Chief of the US Air Force for Procurement, technology and logistics Darlene Costello told the House of Representatives that the prototype was completed at the Northrop Grumman plant in Palmdale in California, and it will make its maiden flight in 2022, writes the American online edition Military Watch (MW).

The US Air Force B-21 bombers (each estimated at $ 550 million, excluding research costs) are expected to reach initial operational readiness by 2030 and be fully operational by 2035. The first B-21s are expected to be based at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. They will then be deployed at Whiteman AFB in Missouri and at Dyce AFB in Texas.



According to the most conservative estimates, the military will purchase about 100 of these bombers. Some experts believe that more than 200 B-21s will be acquired to significantly increase the number of bombers in the US Air Force.

The B-21s will have an intercontinental range to hit targets anywhere in the world. They are to replace the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers and will serve alongside the venerable B-52Hs from the Vietnam War. However, if the B-1B and B-2 were created with an eye to overcoming the USSR air defense system, the main task of the B-21 will be to break through the PLA air defense system to neutralize nuclear facilities on the territory of the PRC.

In turn, the Chinese are developing their "strategist" - N-20, and the Russians - PAK DA. The Chinese "comrade" has been flying for some time, and the Russian program is somewhat behind its American and Chinese competitors (the first prototype began to be built in May 2020). Now Russia produces Tu-160M ​​missile carriers, which are equipped with the most powerful aircraft engines among all military aircraft in the world. The United States and Russia are the only countries that have deployed long-range intercontinental bombers. China owns the world's largest fleet of bombers, but the existing H-6s are designed exclusively for military operations in a limited theater of operations with an emphasis on East Asia and are inferior to the Americans and Russians, the media concluded.
  • US Air Force
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  1. oderih
    oderih
    +1
    12 June 2021 11: 20
    A dagger-type drone will be more serious. Our comrades do not sleep either. Happy Penguins Day of Russia!
  2. shadow
    shadow
    +2
    12 June 2021 11: 42
    Haste is only needed when catching fleas. The Americans, and the Chinese, too, have already made their 5th generation sweatshirts such that they cannot fly or shoot normally, and some aircraft even kill their own pilots, which is why they are removed from the series.
    And so for the fun.
    Meanwhile, back in 1990, the US Air Force historian Richard P. Hollion proposed a more stringent classification of fighters, according to which speed is the key indicator for identifying a generation.

    So, for the first generation it is 0,75-0,85 Max, for the second - 0,90-1,05 Max, for the third - 1,05-1.3 Max, for the fourth - 1.3-2.0 Max, and for the fifth up to 1.4-2,5 Max. In other words, the F-35 pulled, at most, 4+, but thanks to "invisibility" it was dragged by the ears into the 5th generation and under this sauce is successfully sold to many countries at crazy prices.

    Hollion, apparently, proceeded from the fact that it will be the speed that will determine the filling of the aircraft, since the creation of more powerful engines entails a new hull and filling. Well, a fighter cannot fly, say, at a speed of Mach 2,5, if it does not have an aerodynamic design to match the engine and, of course, a space tracking radar in high-speed flight conditions.
  3. Sergey Latyshev
    Sergey Latyshev
    0
    12 June 2021 22: 54
    It happens!
    We are in charge of the construction of flyers and famous effective managers, such as Serdyukov and Rogozin.
    So JSA are not scary.
    And Amer P. Hollion simply invented the bicycle. One-wheeled ...