New US B-21 Raider Illustrates Waste in Western Defense Spending Giving Russia-China the Edge

– The US has unveiled the stealth B-21 Raider – its newest bomber;
– The B-21 Raider may cost over 700 million US dollars per warplane;
– It will not fly until next year at the earliest and still requires extensive design reviews;
– Western analysts admit it faces major challenges going against modern integrated air defense systems produced by nations like Russia and China;
– Rather than depend on its stealth, analysts suggest it could use tactics already used by conventional aircraft to carry out standoff strikes using long-range precision guided weapons;
– If used to carry out standoff strikes, there is no need for expensive stealth capabilities;

References:

NPR – Pentagon debuts its new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider:
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/02/114036…

RUSI – Preliminary Lessons in Conventional Warfighting from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: February–July 2022:
https://rusi.org/explore-our-research…

Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies – Our Supporters:
https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/ou…

Breaking Defense – Israel Shifts To Standoff Weapons In Syria As Russian Threats Increase:
https://breakingdefense.com/2021/07/i…

Air and Space Forces Magazine – Syria Strike Story Shifting; AFCENT Says F-22s Flew Strike Cap, Basic JASSMs Used:
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/syr…

National Interest – Stealth vs. Missiles: Who Wins When Russia’s S-400 Takes On America’s New B-21 Raider?:
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buz…