It hasn't even been a month since the United States Air Force's B-21 Raider took its maiden flight, and it will be several years before it formally enters service – yet, a report written by a group with ties to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has already claimed it has the weapons to counter the stealth bomber.
According to a report from the South China Morning Post, China alleges that it has a hypersonic weapon capable of Mach 6, or six times the speed of sound, operating on a unique trajectory that could potentially counter the B-21 Raider aircraft.
The report cited a recent academic study produced by China's Northwestern Polytechnical University, an institution on the U.S.'s sanctions list for its connection to the Chinese military. The study claimed that in a simulated wargame, the B-21 and its companion drone were shot down by air-to-air missiles, which can reach a top speed of Mach 6.
Hypersonic weapons are noted for their speed as well as their ability to maneuver in flight, which can make them very difficult – but not impossible – to counter.
It was just over a year ago that the Northrop Grumman officially unveiled the B-21 Raider at a ceremony at its Palmdale, California, facilities. It was the first new strategic bomber to be unveiled in a generation and the first since the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit made its public debut back in November 1988.
While similar in appearance to the B-2, the Raider is actually a generational leap in aircraft technology and development.
The Raider was developed to be the multifunctional backbone of the modernized bomber fleet, gradually replacing the aging B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers now in service. A dual-capable penetrating strike stealth aircraft, the B-21 will be capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions.
The aerospace firm was awarded the contract to produce the next-generation bomber in 2015, and the company quickly assembled a nationwide team to design, test, and build the B-21. The Raider – named for the 80 men who took part in the World War II "Doolittle Raid" on Tokyo in the spring of 1942 – was developed using the aerospace firm’s pioneering digital engineering practices and advanced manufacturing techniques together.
The Raider successfully took its first flight earlier this month in Palmdale, where the bomber is currently undergoing testing. The U.S. Air Force had previously announced that advanced notice wouldn't be given as to when exactly the first flight would occur, but the Raider had been undergoing taxi tests – and there was a chance its maiden flight could have occurred unexpectedly.
Though the service also didn't publicize the event, about three dozen aviation enthusiasts and others gathered around Plant 42 and witnessed the flying wing-styled bomber take to the skies.
Video of the aircraft taking to the skies was shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Six prototype aircraft are in various stages of production, and they are being built on the same lines, using the same tools and processes that will build the eventual production aircraft. This approach has enabled production engineers and technicians to capture lessons learned and apply them directly to follow-on aircraft, driving home a focus on repeatability, producibility, and quality.
The Raider is one part of the Pentagon's current efforts to modernize all three legs of America’s nuclear triad – which also silo-launched nuclear ballistic missiles and submarine-launched warheads. The U.S. Air Force plans to buy at least 100 of the aircraft. Northrop Grumman has dubbed the aircraft the first "sixth generation" aircraft as it can easily connect with other platforms including unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and also integrate with future weapons.
When the Raider was officially unveiled in December last year, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said "50 years of advances" had gone into the bomber's stealth technology, and that "even the most sophisticated air defense systems will struggle to detect a B-21 in the sky."
"The B-21's edge will last for decades to come," Austin said.
The United States is just one of three nations that still operate long-range strategic bombers – with China and Russia being the other two. Each is reported to be developing its own respective stealth bombers, but it is unclear when those platforms could enter service.
Beijing's Xian H-20, which is similar to the B-2 Spirit, had been teased in a series of promotional campaigns produced by the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), but few details have been made public.
It is expected that the Chinese bomber would be capable of carrying nuclear weapons, finally giving the PLA a full triad of nuclear-capable submarines, ballistic missiles, and bombers. However, when the bomber might actually enter service remains a mystery.
It is possible that if China believes the B-21 Raider could actually be shot down with hypersonic weapons it is rethinking whether it makes sense to build a similar platform.
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
