The B-21 bomber received additional bomb bays: what is their purpose?

The US military and Northrop Grumman Corporation continue to actively develop and improve their promising strategic bomber B-21 Raider. The other day, during a prototype flight, it turned out that the plane had acquired additional hatches. Therefore, it became interesting to find out what their purpose is?

In California, at about 07:00 local time on November 10, the T-1 specimen (No. 0001) took to the skies for the first time, taking off from the factory airfield in Palmdale and about 1,5 hours later landing at the US Air Force Base "Edwards", where further work will take place. tests. It was then that new compartments appeared in the lower part of the fuselage, which attracted the attention of specialists. Judging by the image, the designers tried to place the various hatches of the “strategist” more conveniently.



It is noticeable that in the center there is a large compartment for aircraft weapons with two doors with sawtooth leading and trailing edges. It is expected that inside this compartment there will be a revolving installation for the suspension of new stealthy long-range cruise missiles with a nuclear warhead AGM-181A LRSO (Long Range Stand Off), as well as other ASPs, including a huge glide bunker-busting bomb GBU-57 MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator ) caliber 30 thousand pounds (about 13,61 tons), capable of penetrating the ground to a depth of 61 meters or piercing up to 19 meters of reinforced concrete before exploding.

Large hatch covers with saw-toothed edges located next to the niches of the main landing gear probably serve to install engines on the aircraft and provide access to them during preventive work and maintenance. The B-21 Raider will be equipped with a pair of Pratt & Whitney non-afterburning bypass turbojet engines, created on the basis of the F135-PW-100 turbofan engine, used individually on the fifth-generation F-35A fighters with classic take-off and landing.

The purpose of the other large hatches located between the main payload compartment and the engine access hatches remains unclear. Most likely, these are doors for additional weapons compartments to accommodate anti-radar missiles for breaking through enemy air defenses and air-to-air missiles for airborne self-defense in the sky.