B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Spotted During Aerial Refueling Test For The First Time
Photographers got some incredible images of the B-21 Raider refueling from a KC-135 during a test over Mojave Desert.
A Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider was spotted performing aerial refueling from a KC-135 Stratotanker over Eastern California on Mar. 10, 2026. The air-to-air refueling mission, which lasted 5 hours and 33 minutes, was documented by several photographers who were able to shot some incredible images of the Raider behind the special equipped tanker based out of Edwards AFB.
— T. Ace (@minor_triad) March 10, 2026
Among them, there were also our contributors Jarod Hamilton and Ian Recchio who took the photos of the AAR (Air-to-Air Refueling) activity over the Mojave Desert.
I believe I captured a “first” today. #b21 #b21raider #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 business jet that could be a testbed somehow involved in the testing activity.
A business jet in the same frame: it’s not clear whether the aircraft, which did not show on flight tracking websites, was involved in the AAR test mission.
Interestingly, the tanker; serial number #61-0320, designated as an NKC-135 because it carries special equipment required to support the testing of other aircraft, could be tracked online during the whole mission. Flightradar24 data shows that the refueling altitude for the mission was FL230 (23,000 feet).