This may be the shape of the future U.S. top secret stealth bomber

February 1, 2015 Military Aviation

David Cenciotti

A new Northrop Grumman ad teases new stealth bomber. And it may be a manned one.

Two aerospace giants are competing to build Pentagon’s next stealth bomber, designated LRS-B ( Long Range Strike-Bomber): a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and Northrop Grumman.

The latter has produced a cool ad that was posted on Youtube last week.

The ad shows Northrop Grumman’s long tradition of flying wings: the YB-35 prototype dating back to the 1940s, the B-2 Spirit the only heavy stealth bomber known to operate with the U.S. Air Force, and the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System developed for the U.S. Navy.

However, towards the end of the ad another shape is teased to the viewers: a flying wing hidden below a protective sheet that is coherent with the many renderings which have appeared in the past and, possibly, with the triangle-shaped jet sightings of last year.

Noteworthy, a pilot is depicted staring at the plane a scene that may suggest the LRS-B will be manned.

And the slogan the narrator recites is clear enough: “Building aircraft, the likes of which the world has never seen before: This is what we do.”

This is not the only Northrop Grumman ad which gives a hint at the future LRS-B shape: as explained on his blog at War Is Boring, aviation journalist David Axe has seen traces of the LRS-B in another commercial.

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

R.Lopaka says:

February 1, 2015 at 7:49 PM

And it may be a manned one……maybe capable of both manned and unmanned ops.
Will Coles says:

February 1, 2015 at 8:28 PM

Looks like Iran is about to product launch another captured drone.
Gyoz says:

February 1, 2015 at 9:48 PM

It will look even more like an Horten flying wing with improved stealth characteristics.

Every time I see a flying wing I think how incredible that this was developed before and during WW2 by the Germans and Northrop just copied the general layout by studying prototypes and blueprints.
Kevin Horn says:

February 2, 2015 at 4:21 AM

I doubt that this is the true profile of the aircraft. It may be close but even if it was close enough it could still be classified. I think too much is being read into the shape base on the multiple articles on this. But I do think that the recent commercials mean the aircraft is in source selection now and actively competing with a Lockheed competitor and they’re trying to advertise directly to source selection folks and congress. Either way I really like the commercials and am enjoying the developments.
Velvet Metal says:

February 2, 2015 at 10:24 AM

You’re quite an interesting character.

What i say was proven when the USAF tried to retire A-10’s (sounds familiar) right before the Gulf War and replace them with A-16’s…why?

Well because the USAF thought and thinks the A-10 is not advanced enough for them, but of course real combat has shown otherwise.

So stop being a fan-boy and accept the fact that even the smartest and most powerful can make mistakes.