A Much Bigger and More Advanced U.S. Bomber Fleet for the 2020s: B-21 to Fly From 2021, B-52 Fleet to Expand

The U.S. plans to seriously expand its fleet of heavy bombers in the 2020s, and with the induction of the B-21 Raider next generation stealth bomber and the modernisation of the B-52H’s weapons systems the fleet will see an qualitative improvement to supplement the quantitative one. The Air Force eventually plans to phase out its two more costly and high maintenance bomber designs the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit, from service. The B-52H design, prized for its durability, versatility and low operational costs and maintenance requirements will meanwhile continue to be modernised, and refurbishment of bombers in ‘boneyard’ storage has already begun which will allow the service to expand its fleet. The B-21 is set to make its first flight in 2021 and will begin to enter service from the mid 2020s, according to a recent statement from the Air Force’s Vice Chief of Staff General Stephen Wilson, who praised the fast progress made towards developing the aircraft.

The B-21 is expected to have a far lower operational cost and lower maintenance requirements than the B-2 Spirit, and possibly even than the B-1B Lancer, which will allow the Air Force to afford the deployment of a far larger fleet. When acquiring new combat aircraft, acquisition costs account for just a small fraction of the price with maintenance and operational costs across a decades long lifespan reaching a considerably higher sum. Fielded alongside the B-52H, it will provide the Air Force with a very efficient and low maintenance bomber fleet. The number of B-21 bombers the Air Force plans to field has grown rapidly in recent years. From a figure of 80-100 bombers in 2015, it rose to “a minimum of 100” in 2017 and as of 2019 reached a figure of 200 or more. With the B-52 plausibly seeing 100 years in service during the B-21’s lifespan, it is likely that the Raider will eventually account for the entirety of the American bomber fleet when the older bomber is eventually phased out - possibly in multiple variants with varying specialisations. The B-21 bomber may be complemented by a hypersonic space plane, a combat derivative of the SR-72 reportedly currently being designed for long range strike missions.

The B-21 program appears so far to be one of the most successful American programs for developing combat aircraft in recent years, drawing a strong contrast to the F-35, F-22 and B-2 programs which were all plagued with significant cost overruns and resulted in considerable performance shortcomings relative to what was initially planned for. With American military aviation having grown more adept at applying next generation technologies including stealth technologies to its combat jets, the B-21 is set to benefit from decades of experience and the latest technological advances in the field. The first B-21 flyable prototype reportedly began construction in July 2019.