America’s New B-21 Raider Has 4 Big Secrets China Wants To Steal

The Air Force’s new B-21 Raider stealth bomber that debuted Dec. 2 is safely back in its hangar in California, but you can bet the Chinese keyboard warriors are clicking furiously to try. to discover its secrets via cyber-espionage.

You, me, and military officers in China and other bad countries all want to know four big secrets about the B-21.

First, can the B-21 fly unmanned? Original procurement documents called for the B-21 bomber to be “capable of manned and unmanned operations”. Military drones take man or woman to gain weight and increase endurance flight time. No one doubts Air Force pilots can hold their own for long missions. In 2001, two B-2 bomber pilots flew a 44-hour mission from Missouri to Afghanistan and back. Bomber pilots train in simulators for 72-hour missions (and you thought Southwest Airlines headquarters was tough.)

CHINESE PILOT FLY 10 FEET FROM US AIRFORCE PLANE

However, it’s not hard to imagine a B-21 in the future on an unmanned mission, over enemy missile fields, deterring attacks by spotting missiles as they emerge from hiding. One day, the B-21 could be the first combat aircraft fully certified to operate manned or unmanned.

Second, how do hidden engines work? Notice you can’t even see the engines of the B-21. Experts believe the B-21 flies with two highly advanced engines, but the Raider preview on Dec. 2 revealed nothing. The technology for integrating the engines and smothering their heat flow is one of the most valuable secrets of the B-21 Raider. “It’s a very, very different design in terms of airflow, and there were some design challenges there,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., told Defense News in March 2018. Trust Connecticut engine supplier Pratt & Whitney to get it all sorted and keep it more closely watched than Coca-Cola’s recipe.

Third, the Chinese, Russians and others are wondering what kind of missions the B-21 can perform. Maintaining the nuclear deterrence triad by training in the delivery of nuclear weapons will be a vital task. However, the B-21 with its advanced networking is also ready for a range of conventional missions.

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Let me illustrate with the movie “Top Gun: Maverick” which, if you’re reading this article, you’ve probably seen. Tom Cruise as Maverick trained Miles Teller’s character Rooster and the other Navy pilots to strike an undeclared nuclear site that violated all sorts of treaties. (Maybe you, Iran!) In the film, the Navy jets hit their target while flying low. Then they were blown up by enemy fighters from a nearby base. Gallantry ensued.

CHINESE PILOT FLY 10 FEET FROM US AIRFORCE PLANE

But in my opinion, it was actually a set of classic stealth bomber targets. A system like the B-21 can approach the target area at high altitude, avoiding detection, and then employ numerous precision direct and/or ranged attack weapons from a better drop altitude to destroy the nuclear site, the track and any other hardened and buried aiming points. Consider the B-21 for “Top Gun III – Maverick vs. Xi Jinping”, if you ever produce it, Mr. Cruise.

So, can China unlock the secrets of the B-21? We know China will try. At Plant 42 in California, the Air Force said people were “walking their dogs” along the concertina fence at 4 a.m. and small drones “accidentally” crashed into the ‘pregnant. Certainly, the B-21 program is also a major stress test for cybersecurity since many companies provide the program. Still, I’m not worried. The immense secrecy surrounding the B-21 was built into the program from the start.

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Here is the fourth element: the B-21 is not the only secret plane there. The Air Force flew a prototype of a new stealth fighter in 2020. No official image was revealed, but concept art from the Air Force Research Lab showed a design almost alien for the hunter emphasizing both stealth and high speed. Much like the P-51 Mustang pursuit planes paired with B-17s and B-24s during World War II, the Air Force will have both unmanned wing drones and a new fighter to go to war with the B-21.

The new B-21 Raider may have enemies to watch out for, but it also has friends.

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