This Is The U.S. Air Force Plan For All Of Its Bombers

A B-2 Spirit bomber after a mission over Iraq. REUTERS/Cherie A. Thurlby/U.S. Air Force CAT/GN

Business Insider: Here's what the US Air Force has planned for all its bombers

* The US's three bombers — the B-1B Lancer, the B-2 Spirit, and the B-52 Stratofortress — will be joined or replaced by the B-21 Raider stealth bomber.
* The B-52 is expected to fly through the 2050s, and the B-2 accomplished a number of firsts this summer. The B-1B, meanwhile, had particularly low mission readiness this year.

The US has three bombers — the B-1B Lancer, the stealth B-2 Spirit, and the B-52 Stratofortress — to deliver thousands of tons of firepower in combat.

Some form of the B-52 has been in use since 1955. The B-1B took its first flight in 1974, and the B-2 celebrated its 30th year in the skies in 2019. A new stealth bomber, the B-21, is in production and is expected to fly in December 2021, although details about it are scarce.

The US Air Force has been conducting missions in Europe with B-52s and B-2s in order to project dominance against Russia and train with NATO partners, but the bomber fleet has faced problems. The B-1B fleet struggled with low readiness rates, as Air Force Times reported in June, likely due to its age and overuse in recent conflicts.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The Air Force has high hopes for the B-21.

0 Response to "This Is The U.S. Air Force Plan For All Of Its Bombers"

Post a Comment