Photographers captured some incredible images of the B-21 Raider refueling from a KC-135 during a test over the Mojave Desert.
A Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider was seen performing aerial refueling from a KC-135 Stratotanker over eastern California on March 10, 2026. The air-to-air refueling mission, which lasted 5 hours and 33 minutes, was documented by several photographers who were able to take some incredible images of the first Raider prototype behind the special equipped tanker aircraft based at Edwards Air Force Base.
– T. Ace (@minor_triad) March 10, 2026
Among them were also our collaborators. Jarod Hamilton and Ian Recchio who took the photographs of the AAR (Air-Air Refueling) activity over the Mojave Desert.
I think I caught a “scoop” today. 🙌#b21 #b21assailant #stealthbomber pic.twitter.com/ZHj1WnTTQk
— jmh.creates (@JarodMHamilton) March 10, 2026
The images not only show the presence of the usual F-16 chase plane, but also an unidentified commercial aircraft that could be a test bed involved in some way in the testing activity.
While the zoom used by the photographers may have distorted them a bit, the images still provide a useful size comparison with the tanker, suggesting that the B-21 is probably larger than we expected.
Curiously, the tanker; Serial number #61-0320, designated NKC-135 because it carries special equipment necessary to withstand testing by other aircraft, could be tracked online throughout the mission. Data from Flightradar24 shows that the refueling altitude for the mission was FL230 (23,000 feet).
As we recently reported, the US Air Force and Northrop Grumman are working to accelerate production and delivery of the B-21 Raider, with the first bomber arriving at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, next year. In fact, the Department of the Air Force and Northrop Grumman have announced an agreement to expand production of the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber and accelerate delivery.
Previously, Air Force officials said the B-21 was expected to be ready for service around 2026 or 2027. More recently, the service confirmed that the first B-21 is on track to be delivered to Ellsworth AFB, the type’s first operational base, in 2027.
Work is already underway at Ellsworth to prepare it for the arrival of the new platform, with multiple construction projects in progress to prepare the required infrastructure. Also among the projects was runway expansion work that required the base’s B-1B Lancer bombers to be temporarily moved to Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota.
At the moment, an unspecified number of aircraft are currently in production, with final assembly taking place at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Palmdale, California, the same one where the B-2 Spirit was also built. A second B-21 prototype was delivered on schedule to Edwards Air Force Base, California, in September 2025. As we explained then, unlike the first, the latter is not equipped with the aerial data sonar and tracking cone typically mounted on prototype aircraft as part of initial flight testing. Since the orange probe is clearly visible in the images captured by Recchio and Hamilton, we can conclude that whoever performed the first (at least documented) in-flight refueling test was the first prototype.
