The U.S. Air Force is looking at turning the B-1B Lancer bomber into America’s first hypersonic missile carrier.



The B-1B could carry up to 31 AGM-183A “Arrow” hypersonic missiles.

In a future conflict, B-1Bs could devastate the enemy, launching scores of unstoppable hypersonic missile strikes against key military targets.

The U.S. Air Force is taking a hard look at outfitting the B-1B Lancer bomber to carry hypersonic missiles. The ex-nuclear bomber could carry more than two dozen ARRW missiles, each of which flies at a blistering 15,345 miles an hour. The refit could transform the B-1 from an aging bomber on the verge of retirement into a door kicker that would fire the opening shots in a future conflict.

The B-1B bomber was originally designed as a heavy strategic bomber meant to conduct low-level, high-speed dashes into Soviet territory to carry out nuclear strikes. In the 2000s the bomber lost its nuclear mission and performed as a workhorse over the skies of Afghanistan, delivering precision guided strikes in support of friendly ground forces.

Now the B-1 could be repurposed yet again, carrying the Air Force’s AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missiles. Here's a video of a captive carry test from 2019 that revealed the missile's shape:

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According to Air Force Magazine , the service thinks it can mount up to 31 ARRW missiles on a B-1B bomber. The missiles would be carried both internally and on hardpoints fitted to the belly of the aircraft. The B-1B has always had the ability to carry missiles, particularly nuclear-tipped cruise missiles on its fuselage but never actually did. The big bomber is built to be stealthy, and sticking missiles on the outside of the plane would ruin the plane’s carefully designed radar cross signature.

The AGM-183A “Arrow” is a so-called “boost glide” hypersonic weapon, using a rocket motor to launch the hypersonic vehicle to a high altitude, accelerating it to Mach 20 like a space bound rocket. The vehicle stops short of leaving the atmosphere, flattening its trajectory and then entering a shallow dive to the target. Traveling more than 15,000 miles an hour, the hypersonic weapon travels too quickly for enemy air defenses to successfully intercept. A combination of kinetic energy and high-explosive warhead would pack a devastating punch.

Kinzhal is a Russian hypersonic weapon system derived from the Iskander K short range ballistic missile and carried by the MiG-31 fighter. Kinzhal is slower than ARRW. Anadolu Agency Getty Images

In wartime, a flight of B-1B bombers—each loaded with 31 Arrows—would attack in conjunction with other more stealthy bombers, including the B-2 Spirit and upcoming B-21 Raider. The bombers would launch against pre-plotted targets such as enemy headquarters, fixed-missile sites, and other facilities, and would probably have the capability to target newly detected defenses located by bombers and drones. The B-1Bs and their hypersonic payloads would help shut down enemy air defenses, allowing more vulnerable aircraft such as the B-52H and less stealthy tactical aircraft to operate more closely to their targets.

The Air Force wants to upgrade at least a squadron’s worth of B-1Bs to carry hypersonic missiles. The Lancer bombers were originally supposed to be phased out as the B-21 Raider comes online in the late 2020s. The bombers added a lot of hours acting as close air support platforms during the war in Afghanistan, increasing the stress on their metal frames. As a result, in late 2019 the Air Force prohibited them from flying low-level missions .

A line of B-1B Lancers removed from service and cannibalized to support planes still on the flight line. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI Getty Images

The Air Force currently flies 62 B-1Bs out of an original 100 planes. It wants to retire another fifteen, likely those with the most fatigued airframes. The last B-1B was produced in 1988 and many of the original parts suppliers are no longer in business. The fifteen retired planes would likely go into storage at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, where they would be slowly cannibalized for spare parts to keep the remaining planes flying.

If the B-1B does adopt this new mission, it will cap off what is by any means an extraordinary flying career. Few airplanes have carried out as varied missions as the B-1B, from infiltrating the world’s toughest air defenses as a nuclear bomber to supporting ground troops in contact in Afghanistan.

The plane will likely fly much longer than its original designers predicted.

Source: Air Force Mag

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