Todos
← Back to Squawk list
New USAF Bomber Program 'Underway' But Cloaked in Secrecy
ORLANDO: America's new long-range bomber program is "underway," will involve somewhere between 80 and 100 planes and will be delivered sometime in the mid-2020's. (defense.aol.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
@Everybody: Yes, the B52 is an awesome plane, but it is still 60 year old technology. Whatever this new plane is will probably burn half the fuel to do the same mission.
Everyone needs to realize the B-52 was designed with 50's tech, the B-1 was designed with 60's and 70's tech and the B-2 was designed with 70's and 80's tech. Even though the systems can be upgraded, we still need a cutting-edge Air Force with more current tech. After all, how many people use computers that are even ten years old?
There was a bit about this in this weeks Aviation Week & Space Technology in which it indicates the project is cancelled or will be cancelled due to lack of funding. Who knows where the truth really is.
It is a hell of a note that they have kept the B-52 upgraded through the years and they can still hit anything in the world from Barksdale(they didn't talk about their IRAQ mission that much); they ought to be able to do the same thing with the B-2's. They ain't nowhere near obsolete yet. Why in hell are they even thinking about something new? All the gov't knows to do is spend.
One of the things I have noted of the years, that the military is always looking for new weapons - no matter wether or not there is a need or not. One plane that has not seen combat to the best of my knowledge is the B-1B. Yet the B-2 has been used on a select few missions. The B-52H continous to be a work horse for the USAF as it can deliver about anything needed (ordance). There is also the not-invented-here syndrome in the USAF (my personall experiences). Also, the aerospace world has to be feed. It was President Eisenhower in the 1950s warned about the military-aerospace complex. I hate to imagine how many billions have been wasted in the DoD. The USAF (other branches too) have to spend money in order to ask for more money. I personnally have experienced the situation where there might be a surplus of dollars left over close to the end of the fiscal year and there would be a mad rush to sepend the money. There logic is if you don't spend all of it, you wont get the same or more money in the next and future budgets. I'll shut up now!
All three bombers currently serving in the USAF have seen combat. All three have also been stationed at Diego Garcia while flying missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The B-2 has been used to slip in first and take out air defenses. It fired the opening shots in Iraq in 2003, and more recently three of them took off from Whiteman AFB and wiped out the Libyan Air Force. Although the B-1 has seen combat missions, it is no longer nuclear-capable. Oh, and I can back you up on the part about spending the money. As a college student, I also worked for the university and I remember everyone spending their entire budgets in the final weeks of the fiscal yaer just to ensure they will get that money the following year.
I had never heard that the B-1B had seen combat. Must have been kept quite. B-2 has been in the news on combat missions.
And the Wiki article relevant to the original squawk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Generation_Bomber
"In 2012 it was renamed the Long-Range Strike-B (LRS-B).[4] On February 24th Air Force Secretary Michael Donley announced that a competition was underway with a target delivery in the mid 2020s.[5]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Generation_Bomber
"In 2012 it was renamed the Long-Range Strike-B (LRS-B).[4] On February 24th Air Force Secretary Michael Donley announced that a competition was underway with a target delivery in the mid 2020s.[5]"
"In the 1990s, the B-1B was converted to conventional bombing use. It first served in combat during Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and again during the NATO action in Kosovo the following year. The B-1B continues to support U.S. and NATO military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. ...The B-1B is expected to continue to serve into the 2020s, when it is to be supplemented by the Next Generation Bomber." -- Wikipedia
After the Desert Storm war, the B-1B at that time had been equipped for nuclear war. Recognizing that current wars would be using conventional munitions, the USAF started that process you mention Bill.
Here is a link about the B-1 recently completing its 10,000th combat mission: http://www.military.com/video/aircraft/attack-and-fighter-aircraft/b-1b-bomber-completes-10k-missions/1483348023001/