US Air Force's new stealth bomber B-21 Raider looks like a chunk from Tetris

The US Air Force is gearing up to release its new stealth bomber aircraft, the B-21 Raider - and it looks like a chunk of geometric blocks from the game Tetris.

The aircraft will be revealed in Palmdale, California, on Friday (2 December).

Created by Northrop Grumman, the aircraft was named in honour of the 80 airmen who carried out the unexpected Doolittle Raid in World War II that changed the course of the war.

According to Northop Grumman’s press release, the sixth-generation aircraft will be a part of the “nation’s strategic triad as a visible and flexible deterrent” that will aid national security tasks.

Sign upto our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

“The B-21 will penetrate the toughest defenses for precision strikes anywhere in the world,” the release reads.

It also states that six B-21 bombers are in multiple “stages of final assembly and test.”

Northrop Grumman

This new bomber comes as tensions rise between the US, China, and Russia.

A senior defence official told CNN that the pentagon released an annual report on China, which said that the country could have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035.

Friday’s bomber unveiling will be a significant one because it marks the first time a US bomber has been publicly revealed in over 30 years.

In 1988, the B-2 Spirit was presented. The US had initially wanted to have a fleet of 132 B-2s, but only 21 ended up being bought.

Northrop Grumman said the bomber wouldn’t have to go through “block upgrades,” which are the periodic upgrading parts of a system.

The bombers will instead be updated with software upgrades that are “seamlessly incorporated.”

“This will ensure the B-21 Raider can continuously meet the evolving threat head-on for decades to come,” the company said.

Despite Friday being the first time the aircraft will be publically revealed, Northop Grumman said that airmen and aircraft lovers will have to wait until 2023 to see one in the sky.

Read more about the B-21 bomber aircraft here.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.