The US Air Force’s B-21 Raider stealth bomber has demonstrated weapons release, taking the aircraft into weapons testing as Northrop Grumman expands production ahead of the first bombers arriving at Ellsworth Air Force Base in 2027, according to the company.
Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems, described the milestone as another step towards a new level of American deterrence. “B-21 is another step closer to giving the U.S. unrivaled deterrence,” he said. “As we’ve heard from our Air Force partners, the B-21 Combined Test Force is the envy of the entire test community for its sustained rapid test pace and progress. Northrop Grumman is turning advanced technology into real capability and delivering with both performance and speed.”
Northrop Grumman said the test shows the bomber “can carry and employ combat power” and that the programme is accelerating both production and test. Aerial refuelling joined the flight test campaign this year, and the company credited it with having “unlocked longer test sorties and accelerated the overall campaign.” The firm also claimed the B-21 has shown “outstanding stealth performance” in testing and that it behaves more like a modern fighter than a legacy bomber in maintenance turnaround times and cost per flying hour.
On the industrial side, Northrop Grumman has opened another B-21 plant in Layton, Utah, adding 265,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and has broken ground on an expanded final assembly facility of one million square feet at Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The company said it has completed “lifetimes of fatigue testing months ahead of schedule” and is working with the first detachment squadron now operating at Ellsworth as it prepares for long-term sustainment.
The flight test fleet grew when the second B-21 arrived at Edwards Air Force Base in September 2025, letting testers begin work on mission systems and weapons integration. In June, the US Air Force flew the bomber with an operational test pilot alongside a developmental test pilot for the first time, merging two phases of testing that normally run one after the other.
The UK Defence Journal reported in May 2024 when the US Air Force released the first images of the B-21 in flight over Edwards. The bomber will replace the B-1 and B-2, and the US Air Force has set a goal of buying at least one hundred aircraft.
