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- Sep 11, 202590% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
Second B-21 Raider Flies and Joins Testing at Edwards
- The second B-21 test aircraft took off from Northrop Grumman's Palmdale plant on Thursday 11 September 2025 and landed at Edwards Air Force Base 'after completing a robust test flight'[1]
- 'With two B-21s now flying, our test campaign accelerates,' Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said; the second aircraft moves testing into weapons and mission systems[1]
- The first test Raider reached Edwards in November 2023[1][2]
- The Air Force plans to base the B-21 at Ellsworth, Whiteman and Dyess, and to buy about 100[1]
Notable features
- A flying-wing stealth bomber, smaller and lighter than the B-2, able to fly intercontinentally with conventional and thermonuclear weapons[1][2]
- Cost of nearly $700 million each[1]
- Will replace the B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer; in April 2026 the Air Force showed it refuelling from a KC-135[1][2]
References 381% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 81%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%stripes.com/branches/air_force/2025-09-12/second-raider-bomber-takes-flight-19063494.htmlstripes.com· Posted Sep 27, 2026· Starts Sep 11, 2025 ✓· 45% of score
Stars and Stripes (12 Sept 2025): 'A second B-21 Raider test aircraft takes off Sept. 11, 2025, from Palmdale' and 'landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Thursday'.
- [2]75%Northrop Grumman B-21 Raideren.wikipedia.org· Added Sep 27, 2026· 45% of score
Records the first B-21 flight on 10 November 2023, the second aircraft's maiden flight on 11 September 2025 and KC-135 refuelling photos released in April 2026; the bomber is to carry the LRSO nuclear cruise missile and B61 bombs.[1]
- [3]72%Second B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Takes Flighttheaviationist.com· Published Sep 11, 2025· 10% of score
Same-day report of the second B-21's flight from Palmdale to Edwards.[1]
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