The U.S. Air Force has unveiled its newest nuclear stealth bomber, the B-21, which will gradually replace the planes it flew earlier in the Cold War.
The first new bomber in 30 years could cost around $US700 million ($569 million) and could carry nuclear and conventional weapons.
As expected, specific details of the aircraft are being kept under wraps.
But US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said it was “proof of America’s enduring advantages in intelligence and innovation”.
The B-21 Raider was unveiled Friday during a ceremony at manufacturer Northrop Grumman’s facility in California.
Mr Austin said the aircraft would offer significant improvements over bombers in the US fleet, saying “even the most sophisticated air defense systems would struggle to detect the B-21 in the sky”.
“Fifty years of advances in low-observability technology have been built into this aircraft,” he said.
He added that the aircraft was also built with an “open system architecture”, which “allows the addition of new weapons that have not yet been invented”.
Although the possibility of unmanned flight was not mentioned during the event, a US Air Force spokesman said the aircraft had been “provided for the possibility, but no decision has been made, to fly unmanned”.
The first flight of the B-21 is expected next year.
It will eventually replace the B-1 and B-2 models and, according to Bloomberg, the fleet is estimated to cost $203bn (£165bn) to develop, buy and operate over 30 years.
Six aircraft are currently in production, the manufacturer said, adding that they will feature “the next generation of stealth” and that it uses unspecified “new manufacturing techniques and materials.”
The US Air Force plans to acquire at least 100 aircraft.
