The B-21 Raider was captured on video making its first test flight on Friday.
Footage has emerged of the first reported flight of the U.S. Air Force’s new nuclear stealth bomber.
The Northrop Grumman B-21 « Raider » was captured on video flying outside an aircraft manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California, on Friday. The test flight comes less than a year after the Raider was introduced to the public and less than a month after it was seen carrying out taxi tests on a runway.
On its website, the U.S. Department of Defense wrote the B-21 Raider « is expected to serve within a larger family of systems for conventional long-range strike, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; electronic attack; communication; and other capabilities. »
The Pentagon noted the design of the nuclear-capable aircraft allows it to be manned or operated remotely, and it is capable of employing « a broad mix of stand-off and direct-attack munitions.
