The bomber B-21 Raider was first seen performing an in-flight refueling behind a KC-135R tanker aircraft during ongoing United States Air Force tests.
According to the site The War Zonethe activity was photographed by Ian Recchioowner of the Instagram profile Look Under Rocks. The images shared by Ian also show an executive jet-like aircraft passing underneath the two planes.
Among other things, the photos offer us a good comparison of the dimensions of the B-21 compared to KC-135Ras previously released images had significant distortions.
As speculated by TWZ, the B-21 it should have a wingspan of about 45 meters, considering that it is wider than KC-135Rwhich has an opening of 39 metres. However it is smaller than B-2whose wingspan is 52 meters.
It is worth mentioning that it is possible that the B-21 Raider had been refueled in flight by tanker aircraft before, but this was the first time such test activity had been captured on camera.
In any case, the images demonstrate that the Raider continues to progress, and in-flight refueling will further increase its time in the air for extended testing, critical for its intended use on long-range missions.
Photo: Instagram @lookunderocks. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
