The Northop Grumman B-21 “Raider”, recently introduced by the United States Air Force (USAF), is the last of the large strategic bombers with whom the Americans have tried to make it clear to their real and potential enemies that Washington is not to be trifled with, especially when it comes to nuclear weapons.
According to press reports, the B-21 would enter service in 2025, replacing the B-1 “Lancer” and the Boeing B-52 Superfortress. The first thing, without a doubt, I believe it, where I have suspicions is in relation to the iconic B-52, which as recently as 2021 it was reported will be injected with billions of dollars for, among other things, improve it with new engines. Could it be that, for a change, things are not going well for Boeing with the project? We must not rule it out, just as we must not stop considering the possibility that the eight turbofans finally hang their wings in such a short period of time, such as the year 2030, times in which, in one of those, the production of the B-21 march to “beating drum” and allow to have the copies that it requires.
The era of deadly aerial platforms from which a hell of radiation and fire can potentially rain down on the face of the earth, wiping out the human race, began with the Boeing B-29, specifically the infamous “Enola Gay”. ” destroying Hiroshima, under the command of then-Colonel Paul Tibbets, whom this aeronautical analyst once met in Columbus, Ohio, where he lived and died. It didn’t take long for what I consider to be the world’s first great strategic bomber: the 1946 Convair B-36 “Peacemaker”, an aircraft that I classify as one of the most impressive ever conceived and which, by the way, I was able to see in an unforgettable visit to the Museum of the USAF, in Dayton, Ohio, in 2001, in which I also enjoyed the pretentious North American XB-70 “Valkyrie” hang-wing strategic supersonic bomber.
“How sad it is that such beautiful aircraft have (destructive) war purposes,” a forum member commented in a WhatsApp group to which I belong. Although I agree with what has been said, I am also of the idea that large bombers are one of the most effective deterrent toolsan ingredient of prime importance in the geopolitical context to avoid a third world war, almost certainly of a nuclear nature, and which must not be forgotten, could well have started in the framework of the so-called “Missile Crisis” in Cuba, in 1962.
I complement my note with the detail that, whether we like the issue of war or not, which I unfortunately see as an inherent part of the human being, most of the time it ends up being translated into technological advances, that eventually benefit civil aviationhe. Also, we must be honest, some military aircraft, even with all their lethal load, are beautiful (just remember the Supermarine Spitfire) and generate considerable economic activity and aeronautical jobs, in the case of those flying wings as the new toy in the war arsenal North American that inspires this installment.
Let us hope that never, absolutely never, will a weapon fall from a B-21 other than in a training exercise. For now, welcome to the model in the history of aeronautical constructions!
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