USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

A place to talk about all things military, paramilitary, tactical, strategic, and logistical.
User avatar
mekender
Posts: 13189
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:31 pm

USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by mekender »

“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
Langenator
Posts: 1155
Joined: Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:10 pm

Re: USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by Langenator »

The artist's conception looks like...a B-2.

So the USAF needs to do a really, really good job of explaining why this is better, and enough better to spend huge amounts of $$ on.

Instead of spending the money on super-sonic, semi-stealthy long range cruise missiles and a suitable, unsexy, bomb truck that can orbit safely outside enemy air defenses while launching said missiles.
Fortuna Fortis Paratus
Greg
Posts: 8486
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 2:15 pm

Re: USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by Greg »

B-2.1, OK then. :lol:
Maybe we're just jaded, but your villainy is not particularly impressive. -Ennesby

If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
User avatar
randy
Posts: 8334
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:33 pm
Location: EM79VQ

Re: USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by randy »

Langenator wrote:So the USAF needs to do a really, really good job of explaining why this is better, and enough better to spend huge amounts of $$ on.
James also explained why the B-21 shares some resemblance to the B-2.

“The B-21 has been designed from the beginning based on a set of requirements that allows the use of existing and mature technology,” James said.
Somehow, I don't thing that's what Lagneator has in mind. :mrgreen:
...even before I read MHI, my response to seeing a poster for the stars of the latest Twilight movies was "I see 2 targets and a collaborator".
Langenator
Posts: 1155
Joined: Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:10 pm

Re: USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by Langenator »

I've read several articles that asset that we're well past the point of diminishing returns when it comes to stealth - spending lots and lots of money for relatively small returns in reduced radar signature. Also that improvements in other types of sensors (optical, thermal, etc) as well as Russian and Chinese efforts at learning how to detect stealthy aircraft may soon render traditional stealth less and less effective.

If traditional F-117/B-2/F-22/F-35 stealth loses effectiveness, you basically have three options:

1) Go in low and fast to reduce target acquisition times and use terrain masking. May also be used in conjunction with what used to be called 'Wild Weasels' to knock back defenses.
2) Go high and REALLY fast. I'm thinking SR-71/XB-70 mixed with B-2+.
3) Standoff with long range missiles of some sort.

Best I've been able to tell, the USAF seems to want to continue to dump most, if not all, of it's eggs into the stealthy basket, without much in the way of Plan B.
Fortuna Fortis Paratus
User avatar
Jericho941
Posts: 5180
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:30 am

Re: USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by Jericho941 »

Langenator wrote:The artist's conception looks like...a B-2.

So the USAF needs to do a really, really good job of explaining why this is better, and enough better to spend huge amounts of $$ on.
If it's more weather-resistant than the B-2, that'd be a hell of a start.
Langenator
Posts: 1155
Joined: Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:10 pm

Re: USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by Langenator »

Jericho941 wrote:
Langenator wrote:The artist's conception looks like...a B-2.

So the USAF needs to do a really, really good job of explaining why this is better, and enough better to spend huge amounts of $$ on.
If it's more weather-resistant than the B-2, that'd be a hell of a start.
IIRC, the F-22 is, at best, no better. Nor is the F-35. My hopes are not high.

It does remind me of a conversation I had, years ago, with another Army Major who worked in Acquisition, in the PEO Night Vision office. A rep from the company that built the LRAS3 (Long RAnge Scout Surveillance System - a thermal imager used by scouts in Stryker and mech units). He was trying to sell a 'next gen' product, for which he claimed a 50% improved performance. At the cost of a 50% increase in size and doubling of the weight.

My buddy told him if he came back with something that offered the same performance with half with size and weight and double the battery life, he'd listen.
Fortuna Fortis Paratus
User avatar
Jericho941
Posts: 5180
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:30 am

Re: USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by Jericho941 »

Langenator wrote:
Jericho941 wrote:
Langenator wrote:The artist's conception looks like...a B-2.

So the USAF needs to do a really, really good job of explaining why this is better, and enough better to spend huge amounts of $$ on.
If it's more weather-resistant than the B-2, that'd be a hell of a start.
IIRC, the F-22 is, at best, no better. Nor is the F-35. My hopes are not high.
Actually, they are.

With the B-2, it "must be sheltered or exposed only to the most benign environments -- low humidity, no precipitation, moderate temperatures."

It's the difference between noted increase in wear, and "we can't park this thing out on the flight line, it has to be in the hangar as much as possible."
User avatar
Rich
Posts: 2592
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:11 pm

Re: USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by Rich »

Just eyeballing the picture, it looks like a more traditional intake system. That would perhaps mean more efficient thrust throughout the in-flight regime.

Still looks like a Northrop/Grumman product though.
A weak government usually remains a servant of citizens, while a strong government usually becomes the master of its subjects.
- paraphrased from several sources

A choice, not an echo. - Goldwater campaign, 1964
User avatar
JustinR
Posts: 1852
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 2:53 am

Re: USAF Unveils B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber

Post by JustinR »

The real question is why the USAF is wasting the money for very little improvement over the B-2. As Langenator said, they should be collaborating with NASA on building a SABRE engine bomber, something that would be transformational rather than a waste of resources.
"The armory was even better. Above the door was a sign: You dream, we build." -Mark Owen, No Easy Day

"My assault weapon won't be 'illegal,' it will be 'undocumented.'" -KL
Post Reply