**B-1 Bomber down north of Diego Garcia**

DOD - No URL | 12-12-01

[Oldeconomybuyer]

DOD briefing. Rescue underway. Nothing follows.

[StriperSniper]

Third in.

[snorkeler]

First posted HERE

[hook2]

Some idiot reporter just asked the Marine General if you could "eject" from a B1 bomber. I thought he was going to fall over from laughter. These reporters are so stupid. No wonder the reporting is so poor.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Not so stupid. Not eveyone is a military hardware afficionado. The answer is, "Yes" they can. The B1A had an escape pod that seperated the whole crew section. But they scrapped it in favor of individual ejection seats.

[deport]

The B-1B was first used in combat in support of operations against Iraq during Operation Desert Fox in December 1998. B-1s have been subsequently used in Operation Allied Force.

General Characteristics

Primary Function: Long-range, multi-role, heavy bomber
Builder: Boeing, North America (formerly Rockwell International, North American Aircraft)
Operations Air Frame and Integration: Offensive avionics, Boeing Military Airplane; defensive avionics, AIL Division
Power plant: Four General Electric F-101-GE-102 turbofan engine with afterburner
Thrust: 30,000-plus pounds with afterburner, per engine
Length: 146 feet (44.5 meters)
Wingspan: 137 feet (41.8 meters) extended forward, 79 feet (24.1 meters) swept aft
Height: 34 feet (10.4 meters)
Weight: Empty, approximately 190,000 pounds (86,183 kilograms)
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 477,000 pounds (216,634 kilograms)
Speed: 900-plus mph (Mach 1.2 at sea level)
Range: Intercontinental, unrefueled
Ceiling: More than 30,000 feet (9,144 meters)
Crew: Four (aircraft commander, copilot, offensive systems officer and defensive systems officer)
Armament: Three internal weapons bays can accommodate up to 84 Mk-82 general purpose bombs or Mk-62 naval mines, 30 CBU-87/89 cluster munitions or CBU-97 Sensor Fused Weapons and up to 24 GBU-31 JDAM GPS guided bombs or Mk-84 general purpose bombs
Date Deployed: June 1985
Unit Cost: $200-plus million per aircraft
Inventory: Active force, 51 primary mission aircraft inventory (72 actual), 2 (test); ANG, 18 PMAI (20 actual); Reserve, 0

[Tree of Liberty]

The B-1 can carry far more than the B-52. Here's a comparison of JDAM loads for our various bombers.

[F-117A]

Thanks!

[Tree of Liberty]

My pleasure.

[hook2]

Ok, maybe not stupid. How about ignorant.

[Blood of Tyrants]

You mean we have less than 150 heavy bombers left?

[classygreeneyedblonde]

An Air Force bomber went down into the Indian Ocean Wednesday and a rescue mission was under way, the Pentagon said

The B-1 bomber went down about 30 miles north of Diego Garcia, a base being used by bombers in the anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan

There are no known casualties. Rescue efforts are under way,'' Clarke said in a press conference with Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

[BraveMan]

Thanks for answering the 'Eject' question . . .

As a follow-up, are there any military aircraft currently in service that do not have ejection seat/escape pod capabilities? I cannot think of any offhand, but I'm far from a military aircraft expert . . .

My prayers are with the crew right now . . .

[classygreeneyedblonde]

An Air Force bomber went down into the Indian Ocean Wednesday and a rescue mission was under way, the Pentagon said

The B-1 bomber went down about 30 miles north of Diego Garcia, a base being used by bombers in the anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan

There are no known casualties. Rescue efforts are under way,'' Clarke said in a press conference with Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

[VOA]

bump

[Tree of Liberty]

That diagram is from the Federation of American Scientists. I have no knowledge on how old it is, so we might have more or less bombers than is indicated.

[Tree of Liberty]

I'd like to know too. The bird's fast, I know that much :) I'm sure there are B-1 crew associations out there on the net where people have posted their experiences.

[OldFriend]

dittos on the prayers for the crew

[Blood of Tyrants]

As far as I know, no combat aircraft is without ejection seats. I don't think the Navy E-2's or S-3's have ejection seats. Neither do tankers, AWACS, cargo planes, etc.

[Tree of Liberty]

I thought I heard on FoxNews that there's been six crashes of the B-1, most from early in its life-cycle.