America’s newest nuclear stealth bomber made its debut on Dec 2 after years of secret
development.
It is the first new stealth bomber in 30 years.
The rollout at Northrop Grumman's facility at the Air Force's Plant 42 in Palmdale, California
was the first public people got a glimpse of this futuristic warplane.
Northrop Grumman called it the "world’s first sixth-generation aircraft," which means
it's a lot more technologically advanced than any other military jet.
The first flight is expected sometime this year.
While almost every aspect of the program is classified, a fair idea about its weapons
package can be made.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes what weapons will B-21 Raider carry?
Let’s get started.
The StormBreaker measures 69 inches long, 6 inches in diameter, 68 inches in wingspan,
and weighs 204 lb or 93 kg.
Its small size enables them to be carried in greater numbers.
StormBreaker has a maneuverable airframe and deployable wings which provide an improved
stand-off range.
The weapon has a range of 45 miles or 72 km against moving targets and 69 miles or 110
km for stationary targets.
The StormBreaker can use a GPS/INS system for initial guidance to move into the general
vicinity of a moving target and then use updates from the UHF data link to home in on the target
during the final descent.
Importantly the seeker in StormBreaker has 3 modes for diverse operational scenarios
- Millimeter-wave radar to detect and track targets through adverse weather conditions
and battlefield dust and debris, Infrared imaging for enhanced target detection through
the heat signature of the target & a semi-active laser that enables it to track an airborne
or ground target that is illuminated with a laser designator.
Half of the total weapon's weight is the warhead alone.
The shaped charge ‘plasma-jet’ technology multifunctional warhead is effective not only
against unhardened structures and infantry vehicles but also against heavily armored
Main Battle Tanks.
The AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile is a stealthy and highly precise subsonic
surface-skimming cruise missile with a range of 230 miles or 370 km.
It is developed and produced by Lockheed Martin.
It can carry warheads weighing up to 450kg or 990 lbs.
The JASSM flies automatically through a predetermined route by using the onboard inertial navigation
system that includes Anti-Jam Global Positioning System (AJGPS), and a ring laser gyro inertial
measurement unit.
Additional navigation and guidance features on the air-to-surface missile include an imaging
infrared (I2R) seeker, and automatic target correlator (ATC) for a high precision strike
rate.
It can also carry powered low-cost autonomous attack system (LOCAAS) sub-munitions integrating
a dual mode laser detection and ranging (LADAR) system and a millimeter wave (MMW) seeker.
AGM-158B JASSM -ER is the extended-range variant of AGM-158 JASSM.
It has a range of 925+ km or 575+ miles.
While a Teledyne J402-100 turbojet engine powers the JASSM, the JASSM-ER is equipped
with a Williams International turbofan engine.
AGM-158C LRASM is essentially an anti-ship variant of AGM-158 JASSM which is the Joint
Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.
The stealth missile is designed to strike ships as far away as 300 miles or 480 km though
the exact range could be more.
The missile is subsonic and but since it is LO (Low Observable), the enemy warship will
not see it coming till it is very close.
It is powered by an F107 turbofan engine and has a 1,000 lb (450 kg) blast-fragmentation
penetrator.
The warhead is potent enough to cripple a large warship.
It uses an inertial and jam-resistant GPS navigation system for the initial phase of
the journey, a two-way data link for mid-course, and a Radio-frequency and Infra-Red sensor
for the terminal phase.
In the terminal phase, the missile skims close to the surface which makes it hard to intercept.
It is important to note that LRASMs can be deployed in swarm mode which will enable them
to saturate enemy defenses.
The B61 Mod 12 is the latest iteration of the B61 series bomb.
The bomb has a kit that is equipped with tale fins to control the bomb’s downward descent
and will enable it to dive down on the target with high accuracy.
B 61 Mod 12 also uses rockets in the main body to spin-stabilize it in flight and improve
its accuracy.
The bomb’s exact power remains classified.
Some reports indicate the warhead will have a maximum yield of approximately 50 kilotons.
To give viewers a perspective here is a comparison.
Trinity Test in New Mexico in July 1945, which ushered in the nuclear age, had a yield of
20 kilotons.
Hiroshima’s “Little Boy" bomb had a yield of 13-18 kilotons whereas Nagasaki's "Fat
Man" bomb had a yield of 20– 22 kilotons of TNT.
B 61-12 is expected to have a “dial-a-yield” capability, which can limit the extent of
the nuclear reaction inside the warhead to lower the explosive force.
This way a B 61 Mod 12 will be able to replace different bombs that have predefined explosive
yields.
The B 61 Mod 12 will also replace the B61-11 bunker-buster variant.
While all the weapons listed till now are operational, this one is not online yet.
AGM-181 Long Range Stand Off Weapon (LRSO) is a nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missile
under development by Raytheon Technologies that will replace the AGM-86 ALCM.
The range is expected to be similar or a bit more than AGM-86 and will be about 2500 km
or about 1550 miles
There is no concept image released by Raytheon but the missile is expected to have “stealth”
characteristics so as to make it Low Observable.
This will make the missile hard to detect, track and intercept.
The idea is the stealth features will enable the missile to penetrate integrated air defenses
fielded by adversaries like China and Russia.
The missile is also likely to feature anti-jamming capabilities so that it can’t be deceived
by the enemy’s Electronic Countermeasures or ECM attacks.
As per reports, LRSO will not be a hypersonic weapon, and the weapon will not have a conventional
variant.