Brig. Gen. Carl Schaefer, commander of the U.S. Air Force‘s 412th Test Wing, has said the service branch plans to test the B-21 bomber aircraft under development by a Northrop Grumman-led team at Edwards AF Base in California, The Drive reported Monday.
He told audience at the Antelope Valley Board of Trade and Business Outlook Conference held Saturday that the Edwards team will work to prepare crew and infrastructure for B-21 ground and air tests.
Northrop won the contract to build the Air Force’s Long Range Strike Bomber planes in 2015.
The service branch aims to commence deployment of LRSB aircraft to replace the current B-52 and B-1 bombers starting in the mid-2020s.