Northrop Grumman's B-21 Raider program is making great progress through its flight test campaign as it scales into production. In collaboration with the U.S. Air Force, Northrop Grumman's program management approach on B-21 centres around producibility and adoption of digital technology to ultimately deliver an effective, affordable system to the warfighter that is adaptable to future threats.

Edwards Air Force Base is home to the Combined Test Force (CTF), made up of Northrop Grumman and Air Force personnel responsible for evaluating capability ranging from flight sciences and hardware functionality to mission systems, software integration and beyond. Early feedback from test pilots confirms the first test vehicle is performing well in flight and flying like the simulators used for training.

“Overall, I am pleased to see the performance of our test jet. The handling qualities are better than expected coming out of the simulated environment - validating the accuracy of the digital models the team has developed and analyzed over many years,” says Chris “Hoss” Moss, B-21 Raider test pilot, Northrop Grumman. Flight testing continues to expand the operational envelope, and model predictions are matching flight test data, demonstrating the value and efficacy Northrop Grumman's digital ecosystem is delivering on B-21.

“Flight test is an exciting time, and we're making great progress on B-21,” says Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. “The CTF team has demonstrated we can execute multiple flight test events within the span of a week. Northrop Grumman's digital ecosystem is enabling that progress, allowing us to analyze test data, make updates and return to flight test with speed and efficiency.”

Ground test performance is another essential piece of aircraft development. Northrop Grumman successfully verified the B-21 structural design with the completion of static testing, thus validating original models and signifying a solid structural design. Northrop Grumman has also begun fatigue testing on another ground test article to simulate a lifetime of flight conditions on the aircraft structure.

“The progress we've made on B-21 in the last 12 months is remarkable. The consistent alignment of our digital models both on the ground and in flight gives us additional confidence as we look ahead to delivering on B-21,” Jones says.

Another key strategy behind delivering the B-21 Raider was to build the first test aircraft like the production aircraft. Transitioning away from a standard industry practice of taking a demonstration-like vehicle to flight test, the B-21 workforce is already familiar with production tooling and materials and has come forward with innovative ways to establish repeatable processes for an optimal build.

The B-21 team has embraced the deployment of advanced manufacturing and digital tooling across the factory. “We are expanding the use of augmented reality tools and advanced robotics to drive efficiency and accuracy with repeatable, precision processes,” Jones adds. “Northrop Grumman is finding innovative ways to introduce advanced technologies in a restricted manufacturing environment today, while paving the way for sustainment processes at the depot and flight line of the future over the B-21 program life cycle.” For example, Northrop Grumman manufacturing technicians utilise augmented reality headsets to support installation of subsystem components and robotic tools for specialised aircraft coatings in the factory.