How The Air Force Sold Its Risky New $55 Billion Bomber

A B-2, B-52, and B-1

Bombs Away: How The Air Force Sold Its Risky New $55 Billion Plane -- Danger Room

In an instant, four tons of steel and explosives slammed into the 522-foot-long warship Schenectady, blowing it apart in a cataclysm of smoke, dust and sound. Overhead, a pair of U.S. Air Force Boeing B-52 bombers orbited, one of them having just released four laser-guided bombs. The huge, eight-engine warplanes had flown directly from Louisiana to attack the decommissioned Navy landing ship as part of an exercise near Hawaii on Nov. 23, 2004.

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My Comment: What struck me in this report was this tidbit of information ....

.... Today the Air Force possesses just 60 B-1s and 20 B-2s. The 70 surviving B-52s still form the backbone of the bomber fleet, more than 50 years after they entered service.

In short .... the U.S. Air Force has only 150 bombers in their inventory.

Will The U.S. Air Force Have A New Bomber In The Future?

US Bomber Plan Questioned -- David Axe, The Diplomat

The US military’s plan to defeat Chinese air defences could be doomed by budget cuts, just a year after it was conceived.

The so-called AirSea Battle concept, developed by US Navy and Air Force planners starting last year, anticipates Air Force bombers and Navy submarines working together to ‘roll back’ the radars and Surface-to-Air Missiles of coastal powers such as China and Iran.

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More News On America's Future Air Force Bomber

Can the Air Force Afford the New Bomber? -- Defense Tech
USAF's New Bomber will be a Single Airframe with Multiple Mission Capabiltiy -- Daily Tech
Air Force Argument for New Bomber Bombs, Top General Says -- Time

My Comment: To understand why the Air Force wants a fleet of new bombers, read this post.

How Just Five U.S. Bombers Destroyed 150 Targets In Libya In A Few Days

B-2, B-1, B-52

Bombers Over Libya -- Air Force Magazine

A quick symphony of planning allowed USAF’s heavy bombers to strike 150 targets in Libya.

On March, five Air Force bombers—three B-2s and two B-1Bs—attacked targets in Libya as part of NATO’s mission to protect civilians from government attack in that country’s uprising and civil war.

On the first night of the operation, March 19, three B-2s of the 509th Bomb Wing struck 45 targets at an airfield in Ghardabiya, Libya. Photos of the airfield released by the Pentagon the next day showed hardened aircraft shelters at that base struck with great precision. All were collapsed or showed blackened trails emanating from their entrances, confirming that whatever was inside exploded and burned.

The B-2s flew directly from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and recovered there as well, as they had done in previous operations in Afghanistan and Serbia.

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Update: Two Bombers, 24 Hours, 100 Libyan Targets Destroyed -- Danger Room

My Comment: Now we know why bomber supporters are so keen on keeping a bomber fleet.

Does The U.S. Need A New Long-Range Bomber?

Boeing's Phantom Ray drone sits on a runway at Edwards Air Force Base. Defense analysts think the Pentagon might order a fleet of new bombers that resemble it. (Tony Landis, Boeing)

Pentagon Moves on New Long-Range Bomber -- Global Security Newswire

The U.S. Defense Department has discreetly been discussing with major military contractors plans to develop a new generation of long-range nuclear bomber aircraft, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday (see GSN, Nov. 5, 2010).

The Pentagon would like to see the new fleet of nuclear-capable bombers in place no later than the middle of the next decade. The sought-after fleet would number between 80 to 100 aircraft that could be flown remotely or by a human pilot.

Currently, the youngest long-range bombers in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are more than 10 years old.

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More News On U.S. Plans To Develop A Long Range Bomber

Pentagon weapons buyer quietly visits California to discuss bomber planes -- L.A. Times
Exclusive: Pentagon arms chief, industry in talks on bomber -- Reuters
$55 Billion Pentagon Contract Could Boon SoCal Aerospace Sector -- Courier/CNS
Pentagon moves on new long-range bomber -- Government Executive/Global Security Newswire
US to build new radar-evading, long-range bombers: report -- Global Times/Xinhuanet
The Ultimate Guarantor of U.S. Security -- Defpro

U.S. Air Force Expects To Develop A New Long Range Bomber

U.S. Air Force To Work On First New Bomber Since B-2 -- San Francisco Chronicle, Bloomberg

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Air Force expects to start working on a new bomber in the next budget, the first such warplane since Northrop Grumman Corp.'s B-2 Spirit was developed almost three decades ago.

"It's my conviction that the nation benefits from a long- range strike capability," General Norton Schwartz, chief of staff for the Air Force, said today at the annual Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

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More News On U.S. Intent To Develop A New Long Range Bomber

US Air Force takes 'cautious' approach to new bomber -- AFP
U.S. Needs New Long-Range Bomber: Analyst -- Defense News
USAF Needs New Long-range Bomber: Schwartz -- Defense News
Schwartz: Air Force needs new long-range bomber -- Air Force Times
USAF Says New Bomber is Critical for U.S. Defense -- Mil-Tech
Bomber Focus Shifts From Nukes -- DoD Buzz
USAF Says New Bomber is Critical for U.S. Defense -- Daily Tech