Nearly 46 meters: Speculations about the wingspan of the US bomber have changed
The US B-21 Raider bomber aircraft's wingspan was estimated at approximately 46.3 meters, with a length of 18.6 meters. The War Zone publication came to this conclusion based on a satellite image on Google Earth. This is significantly larger than some estimates circulated on social media.
Nearly 46 meters: Estimates regarding the wingspan of the US bomber updated
Since the B-21 was first shown, various information about its dimensions, especially its wingspan, has been circulating. In some materials prepared by aviation enthusiasts or generated using artificial intelligence, this figure was given as less than 39 meters.
For the new assessment, a satellite image of Edwards Air Force Base in California, taken on June 20, 2026, and recently published on Google Earth, was used. The aircraft's dimensions were calculated using the platform's distance measurement tools.
According to the publication's calculations, the wingspan of the B-21 is approximately 46.3 meters. Thus, in terms of this indicator, it is nearly 12 percent smaller than its predecessor, the B-2 Spirit. The difference in length is also approximately the same.
These figures are estimates based on satellite imagery and are not presented as official technical specifications released by the manufacturer.
The B-21 was expected to be smaller than the B-2 all along. As noted in the material, in creating the new aircraft, Northrop Grumman paid special attention to flight range, reducing operating costs, and low radar observability features. Carrying the largest payload was not the main priority.
For this reason, the smaller size of the B-21 is not enough to evaluate its capabilities solely through an external comparison with the B-2: the new aircraft was developed with other requirements and missions in mind.