12 jun 2026
Operational and Developmental Test Pilots Fly Together on B-21 Raider
An operational test pilot recently flew the B-21 Raider stealth bomber with a developmental test pilot, marking a key step in the program’s combined developmental and operational test approach and highlighting the urgency of the test campaign. The U.S. Air Force has announced that it started integrating operational test pilots aboard the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber .
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In what Air Force officials described as the earliest such integration in modern test history, an operational test pilot flew the B-21 Raider alongside a developmental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California, signaling that America’s next-generation nuclear bomber is transitioning from proving it can fly to proving it can fight.
defence blog
coverage · 2 outlets
- 08:43defence blog
Operational pilot flies B-21 Raider in historic first for U.S. testing
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