Jane's said the pictures were of scale mock-ups of a long-range strike aircraft being developed by US firm Lockheed Martin to eventually replace a series of similar "stealth" craft currently in service.

The new plane would have a range of some 4,800 kilometres (3,000 miles) without refuelling and be capable of carrying between six and 18 tonnes of ordnance depending on the version, the magazine said.

The current fleet of stealth bombers includes the B-52H, B-1B et B-2A aircraft, which are expected to remain in service until around 2040, Jane's said.

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