B-21 Raider Officially Heading To Edwards Air Force Base For Testing

a reply to: Blackfinger
Depends on how you define 'prototype'.

originally posted by: bigx001

originally posted by: intrptr

Nazi Germany under Hilser were told miracle weapons (Wundewaffe) would save them, too.

In the end they needed to appease the peoples fears by developing ever bigger, more expensive armaments , promising these would turn the tide of the 'war'.

we won't go into how close they were to actually conquering the world, and they had the advanced weapons to do it. it's a discussion for a different thread

If it weren't for mismanagement of some of those at the top level it may have turned out differently.

As for the B21, I hope it goes better than the last few programs but as things get an order of magnitude more complex I don't see it going smooth as silk.

a reply to: Flipper35

The RCO has been running the program, and they're known for things going very smoothly. They're the ones that oversaw the X-37B among other programs.

a reply to: Zaphod58RCO may be doing things OK, but NGC may not be doing very well given their program execution on the RQ-180 and I hear things aren't going very rosy down in Melbourne. ROC might be rethinking their interaction with Northrop!

a reply to: OpsAnalyst

From what I've been hearing there were a few issues with the B-21, but they've largely been taken care of. Nothing has cropped up that has been a game changer, or that has caused any significant program delays. They've lost a few weeks here and there, but nothing like the KC-46, or the RQ-180 issues.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Possible to expand on the 180 issues?

a reply to: mightmight

Nope. Mostly it was new things that didn't work the way they thought.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Would we have any idea when the B21 would be arriving at EFB? I heard from a pretty reliable source there that the commander kind of let that info slip out in a briefing to some Airmen.

a reply to: Cavrecon22

They're supposed to be in, or just finished with CDR, which means building the official prototype. If I had to guess, I'd say within the year, possibly by the end of this year.

a reply to: jaxnmarko

I believe the FA-18E/F programme was fairly respectable with on time, on spec and on cost - but sure, that was hardly a clean sheet design, rather a very advanced development of a fairly mature platform...

a reply to: Borys
The E/F EMD was on time, under weight and on cost. AFAIK all deliveries have been on or ahead of schedule. A big time saver was the use of then avionics (much evolved since then) but the structure was all new, and a new engine. A huge factor was the USN and then MDD were very much partners in making the program a success. Both had to show they could execute a program management & leadership plan especially since it was so close to the A-12 history timeline.

a reply to: OpsAnalyst

Nice to know that things can work out, though I guess it does highlight innovation risk. Eventually, pretty much all engineering challenges can be solved, but time and money is something the Pentagon is quite strict with...

a reply to: Zaphod58

I didn't mean to imply it will go badly, but we aren't in the same league as when they developed the P51. When things are this complex stuff happens. Relative to other programs of a similar generation I think it will do well but overall I don't see there NOT being a surprise or two. Maybe not the "Oh Crap!" kind but maybe a "Huh, would you look at that " kind.

a reply to: Flipper35

I think we are all aware of that.

a reply to: Flipper35

Which is why they've spent years doing risk reduction and technology development, and have used off the shelf tech where possible.

a reply to: Zaphod58

"Do you wanna go mild or wild?"

That was a quote I will remember for a long time: of course we all want the faster, higher, more ordnance, longer range, multi-spectral stealth, more ultra advanced avionics...we want that technological leapfrog that leaves allies in awe and enemies shaking with terror, trying to come up with a counter whilst they realise they will have to behave as doom awaits them if they don't...

If it works. More of often than not, it's money down the drain and a programme that has to be cancelled or scaled back...