A New Strategic Bomber for the Air Force

The Air Force has been discussing a new long range bomber for a few year now. They finally released a concept diagram of the bomber and it is diagrammed in a CNN article.  I have to say, it looks a lot like something that we already have. 

B-52G Taking Off

Supposedly, this bomber will finally be a replacement for the venerable and old B-52. The new bomber has been dubbed B-21. I wish I could understand the Air Force numbering system. There is a B-1, a B-2, a B-52, and the new bomber is B-21? Why not B-3? Or B-53? I know, it probably means that it is the bomber for the 21st century and if history is any guide, it will probably be flying into the 22nd century.

B-2 Bomber

According to another article, the Air Force wants to have 100 of the B-21's flying by the mid-2020's to replace the B-1B's and B-52H's. Good luck with that. Note, the B-52H is the only version of the B-52 remaining in operations, but I am kind of partial to the B-52G since those were the versions of the bomber being flown by the bombardment wing to which I was assigned as a young lieutenant in the Air Force.

Well, I guess we do need a new design for the 21st century. Oops, I though I wrote new design? The new bomber looks a lot like an old bomber. I wonder why?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD