Wednesday’s video (below) marks the service’s first reveal of the aircraft’s flight operations.

• READ MORE: B-21 Flight Testing, Production ‘Continues to Make Progress,’ Air Force Says

“A B-21 Raider conducts flight testing, which includes ground testing, taxiing, and flying operations in California,” the Air Force said in a statement accompanying the video. “Flight testing is a critical step in the test campaign managed by the Air Force Test Center and 412th Test Wing’s B-21 Combined Test Force (CTF) to provide survivable, long-range, penetrating strike capabilities to deter aggression and strategic attacks against the United States, allies, and partners.

“The B-21 will be the backbone of the service’s future bomber force, and will possess the range, access, and payload to penetrate the most highly contested threat environments and hold any target around the globe at risk,” the service said.

The stealth strike bomber was unveiled in December 2022 and officially moved into low-rate production earlier this year. In January, Northrop Grumman said six B-21 bombers are in various stages of final assembly and testing at its facility in Palmdale, California.

• READ MORE: B-21 Raider Takes First Flight

The Air Force has said it intends to purchase at least 100 of the aircraft. Ellsworth Air Force Base (AFB), South Dakota, has been designated as the first main operating facility for the B-21 and its formal training unit. The bomber is expected to arrive at Ellsworth by the mid-2020s.

Friday, the Air Force announced that the service’s newest bomber would also be based at Whiteman AFB, Missouri, and Dyess AFB, Texas.

“We continue to achieve B-21 production milestones,” General Thomas Bussiere, Air Force Global Strike Command commander, said in a statement. “Through digital engineering and open architecture design, we are getting an agile strategic deterrent that delivers a decisive response as required.” 

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Runway operations were shuttered after the January 4 mishap that occurred as an Air Force B-1B flying as part of a formation crashed during the landing phase. All four aircrew on board the bomber ejected safely. The runway was temporarily reopened January 25 to move “several” B-1Bs assigned to the base to Dyess AFB near Abilene, Texas. 

• READ MORE: B-1Bs Relocated from Ellsworth AFB Amid Ongoing Crash Investigation

Nearly two weeks later, what remained of the crashed aircraft that was severely burned and skidded off the runway has been cleared, and bombers are starting to return to Ellsworth AFB, Air & Space Forces magazine reported.

The relocation of an undisclosed number of heavy bombers and about 250 aircrew, maintainers, and logistics support personnel to the Texas air base “proved that this weapon system is mission capable,” said Colonel Derek Oakley, commander of the 28th Bomb Wing.

The relocated B-1Bs were deployed from Dyess AFB on February 1 as part of a barrage of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria targeting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Quds Force, and Iranian-backed militia groups, the bomb wing has confirmed.

• READ MORE: U.S. Deploys Long-Range Bombers for Airstrikes in Iraq, Syria

The airstrikes, which began around 4 p.m. EST February 2, targeted seven facilities and employed more than 125 precision munitions as retaliation for a one-way-attack drone strike on a remote outpost in Jordan, killing three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers and injuring more than 40 others. 

Airmen from the 7th Munitions Conventional Maintenance shop move Joint Direct Attack Munitions onto a trailer before being transported on the flightline at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, January 31, 2024. [Courtesy: U.S. Air Force]

B-1 crews at Ellsworth and Dyess routinely conduct missions together as part of the Air Force Global Strike Command’s Bomber Task Force (BTF), the Air Force said.

“Teaming with our fellow strikers at Dyess to accomplish the mission is a testament to what we are able to do while further enhancing interoperability and improving our collective readiness,”  Oakley said. “The mission we conducted validated that we can respond to any threat anywhere on the globe.” 

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The January 4 mishap occurred as two Air Force B-1Bs assigned to the air base conducted a local training sortie as a formation. The lead aircraft landed successfully, but the second aircraft crashed during the landing phase. All four aircrew on board the bomber ejected safely.

“The investigation is currently still ongoing at the scene of the crash. The aircraft has not been moved and remains adjacent to the runway,” Staff Sergeant Jake Jacobsen, spokesperson for the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth AFB, told FLYING.

• READ MORE: Air Force B-1B Crash Probe to Take ‘Weeks to Months to Complete’

The runway, which has remained closed since the incident, was temporarily reopened Thursday to move “several” B-1Bs to Dyess AFB near Abilene, Texas. 

“It’s not out of the ordinary to have jets from different squadrons included in training packages, whether we are operating at home or deployed,” Colonel Seth Spanier, commander of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, said in a statement. “But anytime we have the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences across squadrons is extremely valuable and contributes to the overall readiness and lethality of the conventional bomber force.”

Following their departure, the airfield was closed again until further notice. “Until then we will continue operations out of Dyess AFB,” Jacobsen said. “…About 250 aircrew, maintainers, and logistics support personnel accompanying the jets are expected to work at Dyess.”

The undisclosed number of aircraft are expected to be at the Texas air base for several weeks.

Thursday’s flights—the first at Ellsworth since January 4—demonstrate the B-1B combat wing’s capability, Colonel Derek Oakley, commander of the 28th Bomb Wing, said in a statement.

“While our airfield operations are currently on hold as part of the investigation, [Thursday] we proved that this weapon system is mission capable,” Oakley said.

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The mishap occurred Thursday afternoon, as two Air Force B-1Bs assigned to the air base conducted a local training sortie as a formation.

“The lead aircraft landed successfully, and the second aircraft crashed at approximately 5:50 p.m. [CST] during the landing phase,” said Colonel Derek Oakley, commander of the 28th Bomb Wing.

• READ MORE: B-1B Suffers Landing Accident in South Dakota

The four aircrew on board the bomber all ejected safely, and one remains in a local hospital for treatment of nonlife-threatening injuries, he said. 

“Losing an aircraft is difficult, but I cannot overemphasize that we have four safe aircrew,” Oakley said.

Following the crash, flight operations were paused at the airfield, Oakley said Tuesday in a video message posted on Facebook.

“We are carefully assessing checklists and safety procedures to resume flight operations when it’s safe to do so,” he said.

Over the weekend, an Air Force safety team began identifying and preserving evidence, and a thorough investigation has been launched in order to identify the cause of the mishap, Oakley said.

• READ MORE: Air Force B-1 Bomber Missions Underway in Middle East

“This process could take from weeks to months to complete,” he said. “The purpose of convening a safety investigation board is to prevent future mishaps. The second process is convening an accident investigation board to conduct a legal investigation to inquire into the facts and circumstances surrounding the accident to prepare a publically released full report and to preserve all available evidence.” 

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