On Tuesday, 14 April 2026, the United States Air Force (US Air Force, USAF) and Northrop Grumman released official photographs of the first aerial refueling of the prototype B-21A Raider next-generation strategic bomber.
Photo: Northrop Grumman
Photo: USAF
“Our teams are moving the B-21 Raider through testing at an unprecedented pace, continually proving its outstanding performance – including aerial refueling,” said Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. “We’ve designed and built a reliable, adaptable aircraft that is vital to our warfighters’ missions, while operating with a sense of wartime urgency to accelerate production and deliver this capability.”
The test campaign includes prototype T1 (alternatively Aircraft No. 001, bearing the name Cerberus), with registration number AF-0001, which made its maiden flight on 10 November 2023 and is now conducting aerial refueling. This will extend the bomber’s global range and enable longer, more effective test flights as evaluations of key mission and weapons systems continue.
Northrop Grumman claims that the B-21A Raider’s overall fuel consumption is lower than that of the previous generation of aircraft (implicitly the B-2A Spirit), but has not provided details, referring only to “a fraction of the fuel consumed by fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft” – which is more of a marketing slogan than a meaningful performance parameter.
According to earlier reports from aviation spotters, the test took place on 10 March this year over eastern California, east of Fresno and Bakersfield, in the area of Sequoia National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, with the participation of a specially configured KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft. As it turned out, this was aircraft registration number 61-0320, bearing the name Ghost, from Edwards Air Force Base. The test lasted 5 hours and 33 minutes. Support was provided by a Douglas DC-9-31 test aircraft (registration number NC9D), modified by Raytheon, part of RTX, as well as, as usual, F-16s.
— T. Ace (@minor_triad) March 10, 2026
I believe I captured a “first” today. 🙌#b21 #b21raider #stealthbomber pic.twitter.com/ZHj1WnTTQk
— jmh.creates (@JarodMHamilton) March 10, 2026
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 #AC17C9/168277/N879AD
Out of Mojave.@Borrowed7Time @N214WN @norb420 pic.twitter.com/9arsUIHeSw— 1776Girl (@sipjack1776) March 10, 2026
The new materials indicate that the aircraft is twin-engined, although the type of propulsion has still not been disclosed (for comparison, the B-2A Spirit is powered by four General Electric F118-GE-100 turbofan engines). Although it will probably carry a smaller weapons load, it is expected to have a greater range than its predecessor.
More recently, on 23 February this year, Northrop Grumman announced that it had reached an agreement with the Department of the Air Force within the US Department of Defense to accelerate B-21A Raider bomber production by 25% compared with the original schedule. Funding for the accelerated production effort was secured in the amount of 4.5 billion USD, included in last year’s federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
At the time, it was reported that under the agreement, the first production B-21A Raider bomber, which was on the final assembly line, would be delivered to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in 2027. Later, the bombers will be assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas. Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma will coordinate operational sustainment, while further testing will be carried out at Edwards Air Force Base.
So far, at least four prototypes have been built under the LRS-B (Long Range Strike-Bomber) program, including two intended for flight testing: the aforementioned T1 and T2 (Aircraft No. 002), which made its maiden flight on 11 September 2025. At least five more are at various stages of final assembly. They were ordered under three low-rate initial production lots. Plans call for the acquisition of 100 to 150 aircraft.
The B-21A Raider is intended to form the core of a family of systems and to be capable of cooperating with autonomous combat unmanned aerial vehicles, the so-called Loyal Wingmen, known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). In the first phase (Increment 1), General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) with the YFQ-42A Dark Merlin and Anduril Industries with the YFQ-44A Fury are competing against each other. As a strategic-range platform, the B-21A will complement the tactical ecosystem built around the Boeing F-47 NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) sixth-generation multirole aircraft — and vice versa.
The bombers will be armed with, among other systems, the Raytheon AGM-181 LRSO (Long-Range Stand-Off) long-range cruise missile. As the B-21A enters service, the gradual retirement of the B-2A Spirit bomber fleet (by 2032) and the B-1B Lancer (by 2036) will begin, in line with the 2018 Bomber Vector plans. The upgraded B-52J Stratofortress will remain in service alongside the B-21A and is expected to continue flying into the 2050s.
We’re driving the B-21 Raider program forward at full speed. Aerial refueling unlocks true global strike power, as we accelerate production to secure long-term Air Force dominance. Learn more: https://t.co/yN9NVfo53H pic.twitter.com/ZaBmNWlrg7
— Northrop Grumman (@NGCNews) April 14, 2026