There is nothing sexy about that plane, but . . .
If there is a more cost effective way to deliver ordnance on target, with low risk, I'd like to hear about it.
Posted on 02/11/2012 2:07:27 AM PST by U-238
After a decades-long streak of troubled weapon acquisitions, the Air Force is looking to get off on the right foot as it seeks to buy a new intercontinental stealth bomber.
The Pentagon’s new budget proposal gives the Air Force the green light to begin designing a new bomber with a target date for starting production in the mid-2020s. The goal is to acquire up to 100 new aircraft at a cost of about $55 billion.
But skeptics already are casting doubts on the plan. They consistently point to the B-2 batwing stealth bomber as a cautionary tale. The Pentagon spent hundreds of billions of dollars on that program only to end up with 21 aircraft, each with a $2 billion price tag. That is the reason, critics contend, why the Cold War era B-52 bomber — conceived in 1946 — is still flying and is projected to stay in operation until 2040.
The Air Force has learned tough lessons from past programs and is not about to repeat the mistakes, said Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff. “We are not going to do the B-2 again. … That is not in the cards,” he said Feb. 9 following a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The downfall of the B-2, experts have said, was its cost and overstated design. Also, because the Northrop Grumman production line was shut down early in the production, the price per unit soared as the cost was spread over 21 aircraft, instead of 132, as originally planned.
Schwartz said the new bomber should be less ambitious. “We are going to make our best effort to not overdesign an airplane,” he said. “We are not intent on delivering a capability that is extravagant.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaldefensemagazine.org ...
Why bother?
Unless we get rid of about 25 million Democrat voters.
So the B-52 wil fly for nearly a century? Don’t they foresee UAVs taking over that role way before that happens? We have drones so small you can’t see them with the naked eye and the AF brass is acting like Curtis LeMay is still around and chomping on his cigar. Talk about fighting the last war, they’re still fighting WWII! You can’t tell me we don’t have hypersonic spacecraft out in Nevada, why are the still flying BUFFs?
“why are the still flying BUFFs?”
Because they scare the hell out of people?
LLS
Indeed, this is the Vietnam budget all over, no matter how cheap or efficient.
What is it our armed forces have not understood with communists and this government yet?
They budget for this and that, and, then, in the middle of the conflict or building the force, they call it quit on us and destroy it all.
And we get scolded, put our tails between our legs like a bunch of coward RINOs, and then come back like puppy dogs wagging tail ready to get another smack in the face.
When you are a loser, destroy the office, unfulfill the job and stay there to prevent any one from proving there is a job to do or an office to hold.
We are all retards now.
25 million voters? Heck, they do not vote per say. A democrat voter is an oxymoron. They vote to not vote, to install tyranny, to act as hissy slaves who only understand and want the stick, because, if one is installed as a leader, they will not follow, they will rather commit suicide and helplessness than give somebody a job he or she deserves to have.
This is the Democrat envious slave mentality of the harem. Bin Laden knew Obama well when he called him a house negro. I wonder why these two knew each other so well.
25 million voters? Heck, they do not vote per say. A democrat voter is an oxymoron. They vote to not vote, to install tyranny, to act as hissy slaves who only understand and want the stick, because, if one is installed as a leader, they will not follow, they will rather commit suicide and helplessness than give somebody a job he or she deserves to have.
This is the Democrat envious slave mentality of the harem. Bin Laden knew Obama well when he called him a house negro. I wonder why these two knew each other so well... and maybe that is why he went after Bin Laden...
That means the bomb load is also so small you can't see it with the naked eye. We don't need miniature bombs or a miniature bomber to deliver them. The B52 delivers a massive bomb load and serves a very real purpose. The B1B is also another great bomber, one they didn't build enough of.
As far as the B-1 nuclear mission, can’t that be reversed? How hard would it be? Drill out the resin, slap on some new hardpoints and you would have a real nice low level nuclear bomber.
If they don’t want to ‘overdesign” it, they need to change the process and get rid of the committees and officers. I designed a one-page product to track my troops’ training. Passed it out to the rest of the unit in case someone else could leverage it. Became a project, overseen by officers as part of an “empowerment” program. By the time they got done, we had a 19-page product that they wanted everyone to use, instead of a few one-page products that could be tailored to the shop.
With the capability of a drone and bomb technology, a small bomb that is guided can do serious damage.
A squadron of 10000 drones, with unfettered access around the world would be pretty impressive.
You make some good points about the BUFF, however:
The BUFF has already proven it can fly through the most heavily defended area in the world - NVN in 1972 - with minimal losses (those caused by stupid tactics), BECAUSE it has the Electronic Warfare suite to totally suppress all (or nearly all) RF in an area the size of New England....
There is nothing sexy about that plane, but . . .
If there is a more cost effective way to deliver ordnance on target, with low risk, I'd like to hear about it.
Even against the new Russian S-400 (SA-20) SAM? With it’s phased array, mach 8 speed and 200 mile range?
Or the Mig-31 with it’s phased array radar, long range AAMs?
I like the BUFF, but it isn’t a penetrator in these times against a threat like Russia.
Ya, what’s wrong with the B1s? They can bogie, carry a nice load. I also am not sure what’s wrong with the B-2s? Is the payload not that good? Stealth capabilities easily defeated?
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