The US shows off the latest generation of stealth bombers, priced at IDR 11 trillion per plane

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A Twitter screenshot shows a new photo of the B-21 bomber released by the US Air Force. Photo/Twitter/@space_osint

WASHINGTON – The United States Air Force (USAF) released new photos of its newest strategic stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider. The photo includes shots showing the advanced fighter plane from a higher angle.

Another image is a close-up of the nose of the B-21 showing the “eagle beak” profile of the new bomber.

The B-21, which was unveiled during a ceremony at the Northrop Grumman factory in December 2022. The new aircraft is aimed at replacing the aging US B-2 bomber and has a hefty price tag of $692 million (Rp11 trillion) per plane.

The international military aviation media outlet reports in this context, “From a 3/4 point of view, this (profile) appears to be very similar to one of the B-2s, the three-decade-old ancestor of the B-21 which will eventually be replaced by the new aircraft.”

The photo release comes after the USAF unveiled the B-21 during a ceremony at Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in California in early December 2022.

Attendees included US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who called the Raider “a testament to America’s enduring excellence in ingenuity and innovation.”

He claimed the new aircraft would offer a significant advance over existing bombers in the US fleet, arguing, “Even the most advanced air defense systems would have difficulty detecting the B-21 in the sky.”

Austin then went so far as to insist the new bomber be built with an “open systems architecture”, allowing the incorporation of “new weapons that have not even been invented yet”.

As expected, the Pentagon chief remained tight-lipped about the specific features of the B-21, which is capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional weapons.

The aircraft are projected to cost $692 million each, with the USAF planning to build at least 100 such bombers.

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