Posted on 07/10/2025 8:03:49 AM PDT by whyilovetexas111
The U.S. Air Force faces a strategic nightmare with its B-1B Lancer bomber fleet. The aging but still capable supersonic bomber is becoming increasingly obsolete, yet its replacement, the B-21 Raider, is still years from being operational. This creates a dangerous capability gap.
The Pentagon is weighing difficult options: a costly modernization of the B-1B, which may not be enough; relying on other platforms like the B-52, which can’t match the B-1B’s speed and payload; or accelerating the B-21 program, which risks delays and technical setbacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalsecurityjournal.org ...
Thank goodness the much younger B-52 is there to fill the gap.
The situation will be resolved when the MIC figures out the most expensive way to fix the problem.
Things like a modernization of the B-1B and acceleration of the B-21 at the same time.
Imagine the Chinese just bombed Pearl Harbor and get with it!
Saw a B1B 1 time at Lake Martin toward the Dam. Looking south. It was a long way away, hard to tell. It was flying low and slow. Then, it just accelerated off and disappeared! It was amazing that something that big could go that fast, that quickly.
But having said that, supersonic bombers are unneeded and obsolete. Money should be spent elsewhere. An opinion....
Just goes to show how good the B-52 was and is.
How many other military aircraft were designed in the 1940s that are still in active service and play a critical role?
Big and loud. Had a chance to walk under one at an airshow. It’s a monster.
Don’t worry - we can just pour money/debt on the problem.
All of the above
Morning update from the NSJ/Raytheon/MIC.
Translation: “Send us trillions!”
Isn’t that the truth? All pre-computer design, too.
I wonder how much of the original aircraft is left. Fuselage?
Too old?
Okay.
Don’t send them to Davis-Monthan; sell them to the Israelis.
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