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Product Name: B-1B Lancer
Product Description
Based on the B-1A bomber, the B-1B was developed by Rockwell
International in the 1980s, when 100 of the aircraft were produced to support a
nuclear mission and were stationed at Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases. In the
1990s, the B-1B was transitioned to a conventional-weapons mission.
Nuclear Mission Capabilities
From 1985 to 1997, the B-1B supported a nuclear mission with the following
capabilities:
- High-speed flight of Mach 1.25
- Gross takeoff weight of 477,000 pounds
- The AGM-69A nuclear short-range attack missile (SRAM)
- Westinghouse synthetic aperture radar and offensive-defensive avionics
systems
Conventional Mission Capabilities
With the end of the cold war, the B-1Bs were converted to support
conventional munitions, and 32 of them were retired beginning in 2001 The 68
remaining B-1Bs retain the speed, payload and targeting capabilities along with
the following new conventional enhancements, which were introduced in phases by
Boeing:
- Hardware and software enhancements to accommodate a broad range of
conventional gravity weapons such as 24 Mk84 bombs, 84 Mk82 bombs or 30
conventional bomb units.
- Global positioning system (GPS) navigation, joint direct attack munitions
(JDAM), anti-jam radios, and the ALE-50 towed decoy countermeasure
- New mission computers, wind compensated munitions dispensers (WCMDs), the
joint stand-off weapon (JSOW), the joint air-to-surface stand-off missile (JASSM),
and the ability to employ multiple types of weapons simultaneously from the
three weapons bays.
Future capabilities include new digital radios, cockpit display and sensor
improvements improved electronic countermeasures systems, radar warning
receivers, external carriage capability and new weapons.
Combat Service and Awards
The B-1B has been distinguished by the following combat activity and awards:
- Combat operations including Desert Fox (Iraq, 1998), Allied Force (Kosovo,
1999), Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan, 2001+), Iraqi Freedom (2003+)
- A very high ratio of precision guided munitions dropped per combat sortie
-- from a maximum ratio of 1% of sorties delivering 22% of the guided
weapons in Iraqi Freedom (1:22) to a minimum ratio of 5% of sorties
delivering 70% of the JDAM weapons in Afghanistan (5:70)
- 100 world records for speed, payload, and distance
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