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The USAF Bone's Back In Town - Here's Why The Lancer Is A Supersonic Menace
A few weeks ago, the United States Air Force showed up with quite a few aircraft to the Aero India Show 2023 in Bangalore including the F-35 stealth jet.
While the eyes and cameras of the media were mostly glued to the F-35, there was another beast that remained glued to the tarmac at the air show. The dark beast in question was the B1-B 'Lancer' bomber.
A few days ago, this time at Bangalore's civilian airport, the massive birds of prey were spotted resting on the tarmac. So why was the B1-B Lancer back in Bangalore and what do we know of this variable sweep-wing bomber's capabilities and history?
The two USAF B1-B Lancers spotted at the Bangalore airport by journalist Tushar Kanwar are here as part of the joint exercise 'COPE India 2023' that started on the 13th and will end on Friday the 21st of April.
The joint exercise is being held at Air Force Station Kalaikunda in West Bengal. While the USAF is fielding the B1-B Lancers alongside the F15-E Strike Eagle fighter jets, the IAF is fielding the Sukhoi 30 MKI, Rafale, Tejas and Jaguar fighters. Members of the Japanese Air Self Defence Force are observing the joint exercise.
The presence of the B1-B, which is one of three strategic bombers that the USAF calls into action when it needs to destroy the capabilities of its enemies alongside the B52 Stratofortress and the B2 Spirit stealth bomber.
The B1-B employs a unique variable swept wing design which allows the bomber to stretch out or tuck in its massive wings depending on the requirements. At full stretch, the wings spread out over 41.8-metres which shrinks down to 24.1 meters when tucked into the sides of the jet.
Nicknamed the 'Bone' (B-one), the B1-B is powered by four General Electric F101-GE-102 turbofan engines. With the afterburner engaged, each engine produces over 30,000 pounds of thrust each.
This allows the ginormous Bone which measures 44.5 meters long and 10.4 meters tall to hit a top speed of Mach 1.2 (1,481km/h at sea level). At takeoff, the maximum weight that the B1 can tip the scales is 216,634kg which includes 120,326 kilogrammes of jet fuel.
The B1-B Lancer has an internal payload capacity of 34,019 kilogrammes. The Bone can carry up to 24 cruise missiles and when it first entered service in 1985, it was capable of carrying nuclear weapons as well.
The B1-B was the work of Rockwell International which is now a part of Boeing. The B1 program was first conceptualised in the 1960s and Rockwell's first version dubbed the B1-A could hit a top speed of Mach 2.2 (2,716.5km/h). However, the B1-A was cancelled after the B1 project was scrapped in 1977.
However, a few years later in 1981, the USAF restarted the B1 program due to delays with the B2 stealth bomber. 104 B1 bombers were built and 100 B1-Bs were delivered to the USAF between 1985 and 1989.
The B1-B with its range of over 7,400 kilometres and ability to be refuelled mid-air has taken part in every US conflict since Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and since 2001, the bomber has flown over 12,000+ combat sorties over Syria, Lybia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
The US currently operates 45 B1-B bombers and plans to replace the fleet by the late 2030s with the newly announced B21 Raider stealth bomber.
Thoughts About The USAF B1-B Lancer
The B1-B Lancer is one of three deadly bombers the USAF has in its bomber arsenal today. With its ability to operate anywhere in the world at supersonic speeds, the B1-B is a deadly weapon that strikes fear into the hearts of America's enemies.
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