ⓒ JoongAng Ilbo / JoongAng Ilbo Japanese version2022.09.22 17:02
America’s next-generation stealth strategic bomber, the B-21 Radar, will make its first appearance at the end of the year. The arrival of a new bomber for the first time in 30 years is expected to greatly enhance the long-range attack capability of the US military. It is also listed as a new strategic asset that will fly to the Korean Peninsula (Korean Peninsula) to deter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
The U.S. Air Force will unveil the B21 for the first time in the first week of December at Northrop Grumman’s aircraft manufacturing plant in Palmdale, Calif. The U.S. Air Force plans to gradually retire the B1 “Lancer” supersonic bomber and the B2 “Spirit” stealth bomber and replace them with the B21. More than 100 aircraft are expected to be deployed from 2025.
The United States has high expectations for the introduction of the B21. This is because it can not only replace the existing bombers, which are seriously aging, but also aim for strategic efficiency and budget savings.
In the case of the B1, which was actually produced in the 1980s, 17 were retired as of September last year, and 45 are currently in operation. According to the Second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START2) signed by the United States and Russia in 1993, the B1 cannot carry nuclear weapons. Also, it doesn’t have stealth capabilities.
Since the late 1990s, the U.S. Air Force has introduced only regarding 20 B2 stealth strategic bombers. This is because the cold war ended and no additional production was carried out. In the end, production costs, including development costs, snowballed to nearly $2 billion per aircraft. Experts say that the maintenance cost is not small because it is an old stealth aircraft that was developed 30 years ago.
The B21 is a flying wing similar in appearance to the B2. Both were developed by Northrop Grumman.
However, the aircraft is smaller than the B2, and the armament load is regarding half, regarding 13.5 tons. Experts predict that the smaller size of the aircraft will make it more stealthy and more efficient to operate.
It is no longer necessary to be obsessed with ammunition load capacity as it is equipped with various smart bombs capable of precision guided bombing. Although the amount of armaments carried has decreased, it can also carry one “Super Bunker Buster”, a super-large conventional bomb that destroys underground facilities.
The B21 is expected to carry not only tactical nuclear weapons but also hypersonic missiles (AGM-183ARRW), which are currently in the final stages of development. The missile flies at speeds over Mach 5 and has a range of 1,600 kilometers.
More than 100 aircraft will be produced, and the introductory price per aircraft will drop to the $550 million level.
Asan Policy Research Institute vice researcher Yang Wook said, “If the B21 becomes a force to some extent, it will be possible not only to deploy it on the Korean peninsula, but also to temporarily or cyclically deploy it. “It is far more threatening than the B1 and B52 bombers, which have no stealth capabilities. If deployed at any time, it will further threaten the extended deterrence of the United States.”
