The first B-21 Raider bomber is coming together at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., facility and will likely be rolled out for public view in 20 months, making its first flight a few months later. The Air Force is also planning, in its next budget proposal, to increase the buy to 150 or more aircraft, up from 100. Honestly, possibly ever longer than that. RQ1 Predator drones have been in service for 27 years and the B2 first fly in 1989 (although in a nod to your observation they were introduced that about 10 years later). As this bomber seems to be a combination of drone and stealth bomber, it's possible they started working on it in the early 1990s. The Air Force has grounded its entire B-2 Spirit fleet and will inspect each stealth bomber after one of the aircraft caught fire during an emergency landing earlier this month. The multi-role More. FILE - The B-21 Raider stealth bomber is unveiled at Northrop Grumman, Dec. 2, 2022, in Palmdale, Calif. The B-21 Raider has taken it’s first flight, moving the futuristic warplane closer Northrop Grumman rendering of the B-21 Raider. The B-21 benefits from more than three decades worth of advancement in stealth design since the B-2 first started flying, allowing for a more streamlined and effective shape capable of wicking away enemy efforts to both detect and target the new bomber. The Northrop B-2 Spirit, also known as the "Stealth Bomber," was out on display during an expo ahead of the B-21 Unveiling ceremony on Friday at Air Force Plant 42, Site 4 Northrop Grumman in The near term Air Force plan is to ensure that the B-2 can remain effective against highly advanced air defenses for at least a decade or more into the future until large enough numbers of the new B-21 arrive. The concept is for these stealth bombers to fly alongside each other, and since the highly secret B-21 is believed to incorporate The US Air Force is finally set to unveil the B-21 Raider strategic bomber, that can carry nuclear weapons, following years of its development in total secrecy.The stealth bomber is a dual rbQ3c.