Newly Confirmed B-21 Design Features

The aircraft is a flying-wing design that includes a comparatively deep inboard volume in the lower half, which provides ample space for engines, fuel, weapons and sensors.

Two narrow inlets are mounted inboard on either side of the upper half of the main fuselage. All images from the angles provided by the Air Force so far appear to hide the bottom lip of the inlet, suggesting a deeply recessed placement. This should offer benefits in radar cross section from the forward aspect, as well as aerodynamic efficiency gains from ingesting the drag-inducing boundary layer.

Close-ups of the belly show outlines of panels that could be used to access aircraft systems and provide apertures for various sensors, such as the radars and electronic support measures.

The B-21 is supported by a pair of two-wheel main landing gear trucks, with the wheels on either side of the axle. The gear appears to resemble the bogie of a narrowbody airliner, such as the Boeing 737NG family. By using only half of the wheels compared to a Northrop Grumman B-2A, the B-21 main landing gear suggests an aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) significantly less than the B-2’s 336,500 lb. Estimates of the B-21’s MTOW may range between 225,000 and 260,000 lb., representing two-thirds to three-fourths the gross weight of the B-2.

The B-21 departs from the B-2’s familiar wrap-around, four-pane cockpit windscreens. Instead, the B-21 uses two rectangular, upward-sloped side windows and sharply angled, five-sided forward panes. Thin structural frames surround all four of the panes, leading to restricted visibility especially on the sides and downward. Program officials have said the windscreen design reflects lessons learned from the B-2 program to reduce the cockpit’s impact on overall aircraft signature, limit maintenance tasks and cost, and improve visibility during refueling operations.

Affixed to the aircraft forward of the nose landing gear hatch was a decal of the B-21’s silhouette, which is the logo of Northrop’s advanced programs business unit.

A shrouded view of the B-21 from the side reveals major design changes from the B-2, including a shortened upper-fuselage cabin and less of a pronounced “beak” at the center point of the wing. The overall effect seems to imply an increased focus on upper-aircraft signature than the B-2, with a shift in payload volume to the lower body. Speaking at the rollout were (from left) Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden and Andrew Hunter, Air Force acquisition chief.

The Air Force revealed the frontal aspect of the B-21 during the Dec. 2 rollout in Palmdale, California, but prevented the in-person and online audience from seeing an unshrouded view of the side, rear, top and bottom of the new bomber.