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originally posted by: mightmight
a reply to: RadioRobert
But as I *understand* it, Northrop and Lockheed both had advanced demos for the flyoff. Very advanced vehicles compared to the recent fighter programs. No programs are exactly alike and this one is a very special case. The LRSB teams were able to draw from various previous efforts and had vehicles closer to the operability than what we have seen with say the X-32 and X-35
originally posted by: RadioRobert
a reply to: Barnalby
I'd say you're on the right track, but... shape/signature compromises were largely settled in the early 80's at the cost of billions to determine what compromises work best for requirements. The physics involving EM radiation has not changed.
originally posted by: RadioRobert
a reply to: Barnalby
So none of your LRSB demonstrators necessarily look anything like your end product in size and shape (though, I think we can safely assume a similar shape was perhaps dusted off or adapted by NG for the purpose).
originally posted by: Barnalby
Yeah, that's what I meant. The RCS stuff is more or less settled science, but the electronic stuff has been a nightmare to integrate on the F-22, F-35, and B-2, so it would make sense for the demonstrators to center on demonstrating the aspects of their designs that would be the most likely to cause headaches during the EMD/LRIP phase, if only to prove to the USAF brass that the LRIP stage would have a development timeline more like a 60s, 70s, or 80s program than a 90s/00s/10s one.
Wilson stressed that the service needs “at least 100” B-21s.
The U.S. Air Force’s new B-21 stealth bomber could fly as early as December 2021, Air Force vice chief of staff Gen. Stephen Wilson said at an event in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 2019.
Air Force magazine broke the news.
Wilson told the audience he in recent weeks visited Northrop Grumman’s facilities in Melbourne, Florida, where he was “looking at the B-21.” Northrop is “moving out on that pretty fast.” Wilson said, adding he has an app on his phone “counting down the days … and don’t hold me to it, but it’s something like 863 days to first flight.”
“That would put the first flight of the B-21 in December 2021,” Air Force editor John Tirpack noted. “The Air Force has said from the beginning that the first B-21 would be a ‘useable asset’ but has also said it doesn’t expect an initial operating capability with the B-21 before the ‘mid-2020s.’”