Posted on 03/03/2021 6:40:07 AM PST by Onthebrink
The Air Force recently retired the first 17 of their B-1B bombers, a Cold War-era bomber that was originally designed to penetrate Soviet air defense at low altitudes. Though the bomber’s low and fast flight profile was made moot by Soviet look-down radars before it even entered production, the bomber was nonetheless manufactured as no viable alternative existed to replaces some of the United States other aging bombers. Oddly enough, the B-1B Lancer bomber enjoyed a renaissance of sorts during the conflict in Afghanistan as a rapid-response close air support platform, able to aid troops on the ground at a moment’s notice.
(Excerpt) Read more at 19fortyfive.com ...
No.
Get a job.
Ah. The would explain the anal swabs U.S. diplomats underwent in China. The blueprints were actually being removed but the covid testing thing was just a cover story.
Did The U.S. Air Force Lose The B-2 Bomber’s Blueprints?
Caleb Larson
It seems that some of the Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber parts may have gone missing. A notice on the U.S. federal contracting website reads as follows:
“This engineering effort is to reverse engineer the core of the B‐2 Load Heat Exchangers, develop disassembly process to remove defective cores, develop a stacking, vacuum brazing and welding process to manufacture new heat exchanger cores and to develop a welding process to install the new cores on existing B‐2 Load Heat Exchangers. The requirement includes reverse engineering the re‐core process for the B‐2 Load Heat Exchangers. The B‐2 Load Heat Exchanger (NSN 1660‐01‐350‐8209FW) uses air and Ethylene Glycol Water (EGW) liquid to produce cold air for the cooling system.”
Though the term “reverse engineer” is usually associated with Chinese or Russian work to steal technology from the United States, it seems that the Air Force may have to reverse engineer parts of their own equipment.
The why remains unclear. It could be that the blueprints related to this particular B-2 bomber component were misplaced, at least according to one recent article. As the last B-2 rolled off assembly lines in 2000, it could also be that the tooling needed to manufacture the B-2’s heat exchangers no longer exists. It may also be possible that the company that originally contracted to manufacture that part may no longer exist either.
In any case, it may matter less and less as time moves on. A huge change is already underway in the Air Force, a change that would see several bombers entering retirement as the flying branch’s new stealth bomber approaches its first flight and prepares to enter full production.
The Air Force recently retired the first 17 of their B-1B bombers, a Cold War-era bomber that was originally designed to penetrate Soviet air defense at low altitudes. Though the bomber’s low and fast flight profile was made moot by Soviet look-down radars before it even entered production, the bomber was nonetheless manufactured as no viable alternative existed to replaces some of the United States other aging bombers. Oddly enough, the B-1B Lancer bomber enjoyed a renaissance of sorts during the conflict in Afghanistan as a rapid-response close air support platform, able to aid troops on the ground at a moment’s notice.
The Air Force’s newest bomber, the B-21 Raider, will enter the skies sometime in the mid-to-late-2020s, and given that platform’s stealth advantage over the B-2, will likely take over the older stealth bomber’s role sometime around then. And at that point, it will be increasingly less important to have spare parts for the stealthy bird.
Interesting Article.
When I was working for NASA on the Shuttle at JSC in the late 70’s and 80’s, we were still using a lot of Gemini/Apollo era electronic gear for which no specs/schematics/etc. still existed.
A lot of fun to try and repair.
NO. Once again with the fake military news - give it up
And yet we still have to go to the website to see any photos.
Why didn’t you post the photos too?
Why didn’t you post the photos too?
Because the photos were not relevant to the story. There were no photos of the heat exchanger in question.
Articles seem to be long on questions but short on answers.
Kind of reminds me of the The Curse of Oak Island narrator. Always with the questions. Never with the answers.
Articles seem to be long on questions but short on answers.
Not reading more.
But comments: losing drawings? That’s about impossible. The real drawings are made and stored by the original designers, which consists of contractor and subcontractors. They will have numerous copies in various form. It’s not simply burned up when the MIL buys it.
As for the B2, it’s a nice bomber.
But the B1 is far too disparaged and forgotten, even evidenced by excerpt remarks. It is the true workhorse of the 2. It has been a backbone of the MIL since it was put in service, no disrespect to the VERY old B52. But, few people are even aware of it. They know the 52 since it’s been around soooo long, and the big deal made out of the flying-wing “stealth” bomber which gets just about every fly-over at any big sport event.
It’s sad that the B1 is so underrated.
In other words, about average for '19FortyFive'.
In other words, about average for '19FortyFive'.
In other words, about average for ‘19FortyFive’.
—
Yep and the guy that keeps posting despite complaints and denials of promoting his own stuff.
> It’s sad that the B1 is so underrated.
There is one on display at the Wright Patterson Museum of the Air force. The thing is an absolute brute.
The B-1B is so underrated because it has been such a disappointing aircraft from it's introduction into service.
It has one of the, if not the worst Fully Mission Capable rates in the Air Force. It was originally designed as a high altitude, high Mach dash speed strategic bomber, then was transformed into a low-level subsonic penetrating bomber.
It's first several decades of service were strictly in the Nuclear deterrent role, with no conventional weapons capability at all.
After the B-2 came online, it was upgraded to carry conventional bombs and use the Sniper targeting pod, and was useful in the W.O.T. as a loitering bomb truck, but still suffered from the lowest availability rates in the Air Force.
Maintenance per flying hour is a staggering 150 maintenance hours per flying hour.
The thing was a sexy aircraft, and was supposed to be a replacement for the B-52. It never fulfilled that role, and needs to be retired when the B-21 comes online.
We lost the blueprints?
Just use more nails.
Is this site owned by the AM Shooting Journal? Asking for a friend
Ha ha ha!
Good eye.
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