The second B-21 conducted its maiden flight and will now join the first one, which has been flying since 2023 at Edwards Air Force Base.
The second B-21 Raider stealth bomber has flown for the first time from the Air Force Plant 42 Palmdale, California, on Sep. 11, 2025, with a U.S. Air Force F-16 escorting it in close formation acting as a chase aircraft. Similarly to the first one, this B-21 is now expected to fly to Edwards Air Force Base, where it will join the flight testing effort.
The aircraft is the fourth B-21 overall, as the current fleet now includes two aircraft dedicated to ground testing, designated G-1 and G-2, and the two flight test aircraft, designated T-1 and T-2. Airframe T-1 flew for the first time on Nov. 10, 2023, while it is unclear when G-1 and G-2 joined the fleet.
The first flight of T-2 was already expected by the end of the year, with recent comments by U.S. Air Force officials saying it would fly soon. Including T-2, it was reported that six B-21 airframes were in various stages of production at Plant 42.
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The U.S. Air Force has currently 100 B-21s on order. Northrop Grumman was awarded the second low-rate initial production contract for the Raider late in 2024 and is now scaling the production to meet the service’s timeline, although recent reports have suggested that production is under budget and ahead of schedule.
We will update this article when new details are available.
Thank you to Jarod Hamilton for capturing this historic event. Be sure to check out and follow him on X and Instagram.
