Released Photo: Stealthy B-21 Bomber on Test Flight Over Southern California

The Air Force released a new photo Wednesday of Northrop Grumman’s stealthy B-21 Raider cruising over Southern California during its testing phase.

The flying wing bombers are under construction at a factory in Palmdale and being tested in the skies over Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.

“It continues to make progress toward becoming the backbone of the U.S. Air Force bomber fleet,” the service said.

Andrew Hunter, assistant secretary of the Air Force, told Congress earlier this month that flight testing is “proceeding well.”

“It is doing what flight test programs are designed to do, which is helping us learn about the unique characteristics of this platform, but in a very, very effective way,” Hunter said.

The Air Forces plans to acquire a minimum of 100 B-21s to replace aging B-52 and B-1 bombers. The first squadron is expected to be operational in the mid 2020s.