During the demonstration on edwards air force base the 419th flight test
squadron showcased the B-1B lancer strategic bomber cannon beam.
How america's B-1B bomber become more missile carrier than aircraft. The
B-1B may have lost its cluster munitions capability, but it still has plenty
of other weapons at its disposal.
The B-1B bomber's large fuselage could conceal a huge amount of weaponry, up
to 75000 pounds of ordnance tucked within three weapons bays.
Like many warplanes since the end of the cold war, the B-1B bomber's role in
american air power has changed to embrace new missions. Unlike other planes,
the B-1's mission changed even before the first aircraft took off.
What started as a high-altitude, high-speed nuclear penetration bomber has
evolved into today's all-purpose non-nuclear attack aircraft, a
jack-of-all-trades with a huge carrying capacity for bombs and air to ground
missiles.
After the cancellation of the supersonic XB-70 Valkyrie bomber, the united
states air force struggled with the best approach to penetrating soviet
missile defenses with a manned bomber.
The advent of surface-to-air missiles had made the airspace of the union of
soviet socialist republics particularly deadly in a tough nut to crack, and
air warfare strategists were unsure whether a high altitude, high speed dash
or a low altitude sneak was the best approach.
After no fewer than four bomber studies the B-1A bomber first flew in
january 1974. High altitude and high speed had won out the B-1A was capable
of mach 2.22 at a height of 50000 feet.
Unfortunately for the b1a, it flew directly into unfavorable political
winds.
At the time presidential candidate jimmy carter considered the bomber
wasteful and refused to back it and the bomber stayed in limbo for the
duration of his presidency.
President Ronald Reagan, however elected on a promise to rebuild america's
military, seized upon the optics of a sleek new bomber replacing older 1960s
era B-52 bombers and the B-1 bomber program was back on.
In order to remain relevant, the B-1A would have to be redesigned into a
stealthy, low altitude penetrator, and the B-1A morphed into the B-1B which
included among other things an 85 reduction in radar cross-section, an
increase in defensive avionics and a one-third increase in maximum takeoff
weight to 477 thousand pounds.
The bomber could travel seven thousand four hundred fifty-five miles
unrefied. As a consequence of abandoning the high-speed mission and
embracing stealth, maximum speed fell to mach 1.25 in.
Its original role as a long-range strategic nuclear bomber, the B-1B bomber
could carry eight B-61 bombs, B-83 bombs, or AGM-69A short-range attack
missiles per weapon bay.
The b-1b bomber could also carry another 50000 pounds of weapons externally
and external hardpoints were designed to accommodate the AGM-86B air
launched cruise missile.
The United States withdrew the b-1b from the nuclear mission in 1991 and in
1995 russian observers were allowed access to certify that all B-1B's had
been effectively denuclearized.
The B-1B was also capable of carrying a wide variety of
submunition-based weapons, such as the cbu-87 combined effects munition,
gator mine system or CBU-97 sensor fused weapon.
However, those have been withdrawn from us inventories due to international
concerns about unexploded cluster munitions on the battlefield.
The B-1B bomber can now carry up to twenty-four two-thousand-pound
Joint Directed Attack Munition (JDAM) satellite guided bombs at a time, and
this giving it the capability to strike up to 24 separate enemy targets,
with an accuracy of up to 45 feet with gps guidance, or 100 feet relying on
the bomber's internal navigation system.
The B-1B combination of speed, range a belly full of precision bombs in a
sniper advanced targeting Pod, made it an unusual but logical choice for
loitering high over friendly the united states forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
The b-1b could linger for hours over a battlefield, providing close air
support to troops in contact or in situations where contact was imminent.
The b1b bomber newest and most interesting weapon is AGM-158 the joint air
to surface standoff missile and the joint air to surface standoff missile
extended range.
Joint air to surface standoff missile is a 2250 pound cruise missile with a
thousand pound warhead in a 200-mile range.
The joint air-to-surface standoff missile extended range reportedly has
doubled the range of the original version. The two missiles fit eight per
weapons bay for a total of 24 cruise missiles per aircraft.
Outfitted with the joint air to surface standoff missile extended range
missiles and in concert with B-52 bombers, virginia class attack submarines
and ohio-class guided-missile submarines, a force of B-1B's could contribute
to a single overwhelming mass attack of precision guided cruise missiles
numbering in the many hundreds.
The b-1b role in america's military arsenal has been more of an Odyssey than
others. From nuclear bomber to missile carrier, the supersonic bomber has
been flexible enough to adapt to a changing strategic environment, embracing
new roles is necessary.