Tag Archives: B-2 Spirit

U.S. NEW B-52 AFTER UPGRADE SHOCKED THE WORLD!

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Deep inside the B-52’s belly, a rotating launcher spins like a revolver, and a current upgrade nearly doubles the smart missiles it can fire from there.

This is the story of the strangest decision in American air power: instead of replacing its oldest bomber, the US Air Force is rebuilding it to fly for one hundred years.

The B-52 Stratofortress first flew in 1952, and the last one rolled off the line in October 1962.

Since then, every bomber designed to replace it has faltered: the supersonic B-58 Hustler lasted barely a decade, the Mach-3 XB-70 died after two prototypes, and now even the B-1B Lancer and the two-billion-dollar B-2 Spirit are scheduled to retire first, handing their missions to the B-21 Raider while the B-52 flies on.

In this documentary, we go inside the rebuild turning the B-52H into the B-52J. Eight new Rolls-Royce F130 engines under the Commercial Engine Replacement Program — with the first aircraft arriving at Boeing’s San Antonio plant this year. The Conventional Rotary Launcher and Internal Weapons Bay Upgrade, which raised the bomber’s smart-weapon capacity by 67 percent and turned it into a standoff missile truck carrying twenty precision weapons. And a new Raytheon AESA radar, derived from fighter radars, that gives the old airframe modern eyes.

By the time it is done, airframes built in 1962 will be flying toward a full century of service — longer than any combat aircraft in history. 

If you watch this video right here, there should be fewer ad interruptions. Remember to open for full view and to keep your sound turned on.

Thanks to ‘Beyond Facts‘ for this insightful documentary.                    The video is 22:05 long.

The B-1, B-2, B-52 – – – What Will Be the Next U.S. Bomber?

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The above video in only 1:38 long. The above video is thanks to the Northrup-Grumman Corporation.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James recently announced that the B-21 bomber will be called the B-21 Raider. The name represents the historically important role the new long-range stealth bomber will lead for the next 50 years.

The name is a tribute to the sheer bravery and grit displayed by Jimmy Doolittle and the Doolittle Raiders during World War II; and the legacy will now be carried on by future Airmen. Assisting Secretary James on stage to announce the name was one of the original Doolittle Raiders, the last living Doolittle Raider, and Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot, 101-year-old Air Force Lt. Col. (Retired) Richard Cole.

The above video is 9:10 in length and is courtesy of Warthog Defense.

If one accepts the premise that the B-21 will be powered by twin unaugmented F135 engines, one can then assume that the new bomber will be larger than a Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle or General Dynamics F-111 “Aardvark,” but smaller than the B-1 Lancer or B-2 Spirit.

Given the types of threats from low frequency radars that are projected to be out there in the future and the limitations of current low observables materials, B-21’s subsonic flying wing design will be large enough to counter low frequency radars.

A tactical fighter-sized stealth aircraft must be optimized to defeat higher-frequency bands such the C, X and Ku bands as a simple matter of physics, but a strategic bomber like the B-2 or LRS-B can be larger to counter lower frequency radars. There is a “step change” in a stealth aircraft’s signature once the frequency wavelength exceeds a certain threshold and causes a resonant effect. Typically, that resonance occurs when a feature on an aircraft—such as a tail-fin—is less than eight times the size of a particular frequency wavelength. That means a bomber like the B-21 has to have allowances for two feet or more of radar absorbent material coatings on every surface or the designers are forced to make trades as to which frequency bands they optimize the aircraft to operate in. As such, to defeat low frequency radars operating in the L, UHF and potentially the VHF bands (this is easier said than done—and could in fact be impossible), a flying wing design is in effect, mandatory.

The above video is 10:57 long.  The new aircraft will be designed to have global reach, in part by incorporating a large arsenal of long-range weapons. The B-21 is being engineered to carry existing weapons as well as nuclear bombs and emerging and future weapons, Air Force officials explained. It if’s arsenal is anything like the B-2, it will like have an ability to drop a range of nuclear weapons, GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions and possibly even the new Air Force nuclear-armed cruise missile now in development called the LRSO – (Long Range Stand Off) weapon. It is also conceivable, although at this point it is speculation, that one day the B-21 will probably be armed with yet-to-be seen weapons technology. This information is courtesy of “US Military Technology.”