New US B-21 Raider Illustrates Waste in Western Defense Spending Giving Russia-China the Edge

- The US has unveiled thes stealth B-21 Raider - its newest bomber; - The B-21 Raider may cost over 700 million US dollars per warplane; - It will not fly until next year at the earliest and still requires extensive design reviews; - Western analysts admit it faces major challenges going against modern integrated air defense systems produced by nations like Russia and China; - Rather than depend on its stealth, analysts suggest it could use tactics already used by conventional aircraft to carry out standoff strikes using long-range precision guided weapons; - If used to carry out standoff strikes, there is no need for expensive stealth capabilities; References: NPR - Pentagon debuts its new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider: RUSI - Preliminary Lessons in Conventional Warfighting from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: February–July 2022: