Why The B-21 Raider Doesn’t Need The B-2 Spirit’s Climate-Controlled Hangars

While Trump has called the B-21 Raider an “upgraded B-2”, the aircraft more accurately represents a generational leap over the B-2 Spirit, taking advantage of around four decades of technological improvements. One area where the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider leap-frogs the B-2 is in its advanced Radar Absorbent Materials (RAM). Not only will these make the aircraft much more difficult to detect, but they will also make the aircraft much easier to maintain and lower its logistical tail.