Pentagon Unveils B-21 Raider, A New Stealth Bomber

History of America’s Air Power & Superiority

Image: Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider in a hangar at Plant 42, Palmdale, California. The image is in Public Domain.

Here is some exciting news that neither the news media nor social media have covered much. And it’s exciting because it impacts our country’s geopolitics and our deterrence and nuclear strategies.

In December, the Pentagon unveiled the B-21 Raider. It’s a new Air Force superweapon — a stealth bomber that has taken Northrop Grumman close to a decade to develop on time and under budget.

But the US Air Force has been shrinking its bomber fleet since the collapse of the USSR — the Soviet Union. So why develop the B-21 Raider now? Why embark on a huge and highly costly new bomber project now?

To answer this question and to dig deep into US Air Force history, I spoke with Dr. Melvin Deaile. He is the Director of the School of Advanced Nuclear and Deterrence Studies, and an Associate Professor in the Department of International Studies at Air University’s Air Command and Staff College.

Dr. Deaile teaches classes on nuclear deterrence, nuclear strategy, joint warfighting, and classical military thought. He is a retired Air Force Colonel, where he served two tours in the B-52 Stratofortress and a tour in the B-2 Spirit. He has flown combat operations as part of Operations DESERT STORM and…