EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., - The United States Air Force recently unveiled a reversible modification of its B-1B Lancer bomber that almost doubles its weapons payload and will allow it to one day carry hypersonic missiles. The demonstration was carried out by the 412th Test Wing, Air Force Global Strike Command, and industry partners on August 28 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, writes David Szondy for NewAtlas.com. Continue reading original article
The Intelligent Aerospace take:
September 12, 2019-“The purpose of the demonstration was to show that we’re still able to move the bulkhead from the forward intermediate bay to the forward location; increasing the intermediate bay capacity from 180 inches to 269 inches, said Lt. Col. Dominic Ross, B-1B program element monitor, AFGSC on Aug. 28. “Additionally, we demonstrated that we can still carry weapons externally on six of the eight hard points, which increases our overall carriage capacity.”
For the demonstration, the bomber was also outfitted with an inert Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile attached to a pylon, which was attached to one of the original hard points on the plane. The demonstration was conducted at Edwards AFB with the 419th Flight Test Squadron due to its experience with testing on the platform.
“It’s not a permanent modification, it’s something that can be done through a few work shifts with the Maintenance (Flight),” said Capt. Timothy Grace, test weapons systems officer, 419th FLTS. “So depending on what the targets are that we’re going after, the weapons we need to carry, we can move that bulkhead, and do the external carriage.”
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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
