Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, said there have been some early production “hiccups” with the B-21, notably with its engines.
Wittman told reporters following a speech at the McAleese/Credit Suisse defense conference that there have been challenges with airflow through the B-21 engines. “This is a very, very different design as far as inflow, and there have been some design challenges there,” he said. Engine maker Pratt and Whitney has disagreements with the ducting contractor on how much air can move through the engine and balancing that with cowling and maintaining its low observability.
Wittman said in his speech the committee is making sure the new B-21 Raider bomber stays on time and budget. The committee is asking the Air Force and prime contractor Northrop Grumman how they are aligning their respective timelines and budgets for aircraft development. “You know their challenges have been stacking up to get enough engineers in there to make sure the design stays on track, to make sure that they’re meeting their milestones, to do the Iron Bird.” The Iron Bird will be the B-21 mock-up, meant to serve as a test bed. Wittman noted the committee is making sure it gets monthly status reports from the Air Force and Northrop Grumman to see they are meeting milestones and on track for budget and time.
