the big ooooh and aaaaah is that its a stealth bomber that is smaller than the B-2 as its main selling point and I am just pointing out that there are stealth bombers smaller than the B-21 or could be even bigger than the B-21 like possibly PAK-DA. I know that these 3 bombers will have stealth, EW, wingman UAV capabilities and all that jazz which is why I asked Gary about what specs it has that separates it from the B-2 and not even the people announcing the bomber at least mention that it would have 1000s of kilometers in range, wingman UAVs, DIRCM, missile APS, or other features and that is not really hitting it close to that's classified info kind of data.
We really won't know much aside that this is going to be the single most advanced flying objects soon and the first 6th gen military aircraft. As I posted earlier, according to NG CEO Kathy Warden, the B-21 difference will be mainly in the inside.
“When people see the exterior of the B-21, it will be very similar to the B-2,” said Northrop CEO Kathy Warden in an interview with Breaking Defense. “The real differences are inside of the platform, because you can think about how much digital technology has progressed since the time we built the B-2 and the time we built the B-21.”
Warden said the B-21’s capability is “significantly greater on all the requirements that the Air Force had around stealth — meaning low observability — [and] the range of the platform.”
Look, the B-21 predecessor, the B-2 has been in service since 34+ years now and still nothing to compete with it in the sky. The B-21 will be significantly not marginally better in all aspect than the B-2. It's electronics, computing, LO characteristics I believe will be a huge leap even compared to existing 5th gen VLO aircraft. But unlie the B-2, the B-21 will be much maintenance friendly and its availability rate will be a hge jump.
Stealthy, radar-evading jets have proved difficult and expensive to maintain. Northrop executives said the B-21 has been designed with existing parts and technology to lower costs and improve reliability.
“The B-21 is designed to be a daily flier, “We took lessons learned from the B-2… in maintaining stealth platforms,” said Tom Jones, head of the company’s aerospace unit.
The Pentagon showed off its first new bomber in more than 30 years, lifting the veil on the secret long-range jet intended as a central element in Washington’s effort to keep China in check.
www.wsj.com
The B-21 is smaller mainly due to the fact that it has 2 instead of 4 engine like the B-21, and if you look closely the chest are actually larger and flatter than the B-2 which looks triangular. Which may indicate the same or even larger payload.
The Su-70, other than it looks really has nothing very special to offer. And in the Western countries, looks like they put a halt on the UCAV program. Must be some technical hurdles coming their way.