USAF Next Generation Bomber LRS-B

[RobWilliams]

I'm fairly sure it won't be a civilian air liner either - the body will be LO which rules out anything commercially available. I suspect it'll re-use a shape already seen in a military aircraft.

All of the artists impressions (I know that's worth as much as a chocolate teapot) i've seen pretty much look like a modern incarnation of the B-2.

If it came out like that, it'd be a darn good platform, especially in the numbers they're planning on (at the moment).

 

[StobieWan]

All of the artists impressions (I know that's worth as much as a chocolate teapot) i've seen pretty much look like a modern incarnation of the B-2.

If it came out like that, it'd be a darn good platform, especially in the numbers they're planning on (at the moment).

If they stick with the fairly aggressive timings, plug in lots of MOTS, and don't dick around with spec changes, they could deliver quite strongly here.

What are the odds ?

 

[RobWilliams]

If they stick with the fairly aggressive timings, plug in lots of MOTS, and don't dick around with spec changes, they could deliver quite strongly here.

What are the odds ?

Even if the unit price doubles and the unit procurement halves, that'd still be circa 40 - 50 airframes, compared to the what, 20 B-2s? Then bring in how many of them are available at any particular time?

To be honest, i've got high hopes for this platform given the sort of technology around now compared to when the B-2 was brought about.

As it's got to be able to penetrate Chinese air defences, I'm REALLY interested to see how it's LO characteristics compare - in a very vague sense - to the F-22 and F-35.

I'm also interested to see how the whole "family of systems" thing is going to work.

 

[Volkodav]

What I am interested in is how affordable it is going to be and whether it will be offered for export, i.e. an alternative to replace the Tornado / F-111 / Super Hornet / F-15E in service with close allies. This stands to be an extremely versatile multi role platform with a significant ISR capability in addition to its primary strike role. With the range it is likely to posses it should provide a very persistant capability in any of its roles.

Imagine a tactical tanker variant.

 

[RobWilliams]

What I am interested in is how affordable it is going to be and whether it will be offered for export, i.e. an alternative to replace the Tornado / F-111 / Super Hornet / F-15E in service with close allies. This stands to be an extremely versatile multi role platform with a significant ISR capability in addition to its primary strike role. With the range it is likely to posses it should provide a very persistant capability in any of its roles.

Imagine a tactical tanker variant.

Highly doubt they'd offer it for export, considering what they're expecting it to do and the defences it's supposed to penetrate, i've got the feeling this is going to be a "US-only" toy.

What they're looking for is a long range strategic bomber akin to the B-2/B-1 and is supposed to replace those platforms (and MAYBE the B-52 I think, but not 100%),so it'd be a different league to a Tornado etc. All the graphics i've seen of it have usually been a mixture of a modern B-2/X47-B derivative.

From an old (2010) CSBA publication, they list some potential OTS systems the LRS-B could potentially use. I'll link the document as it's sadly a smidge too big to attach.

• F-35 engines
• F-35 mission computer
• F-35 cockpit controls and displays
• F-35 comm/nav systems
• F-35 armament control system
• F-35 environmental control system
• B-2 AESA radar
• B-2 landing gear and weapons bay doors
• B-2 secondary power system
• B-2 crew escape
• F-15e electrical system
• F-15e fuel system
• F-15e fire suppression
• F/A-18E/F hydraulics
• B737 derivative landing gear

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...hXl30QEYvcuwkj8rw&sig2=MrTgxsVJgr0v_bpYRCm9uA

 

[My2Cents]

My notion of a black program is one that the public is unaware of, e.g. U-2, SR-71, F-117 and B-2. My understanding is that the extreme lengths undertaken to maintain secrecy added significantly to the overall cost of said programs. Maybe LRS-B need not be kept black if the intent is affordability though I can appreciate the appeal in restricting info to the media and politicians.

One of the greatest values of a ‘black’ program is that you don’t have everyone and his congressman adding new requirements every couple of days. That’s why Kelly Johnson’s ‘Skunk Works’ was so successful, most of their projects had as little as 1 page of specification, and all but one started with less than 3.

Then they finished the project so fast that no one outside the initial circulation had a chance to change anything.

 

[Masquerader]

In September 2015, Northrop Grumman won the LRSB competition, and the winning NG design was designated B-21 and christened the Raider. The official name Raider is an honorary nod to the men who took part in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942, suggested for the B-21 at the behest of Richard E. Cole, the last living Doolittle Raider, while the allocation of B-21 to the Raider was quite surprising because people expected the designation B-3 to be assigned to whichever design won the LRSB competition. The B-21 Raider was rolled out in December 2022 and flew on November 10, 2023, with the USAF .

Given that the losing Lockheed Martin/Boeing design for the LRSB competition was derived from the team's subsonic Next-Generation Bomber design (which was a flying wing similar to the Lockheed P-175 Polecat technology demonstrator), the experience garnered by Northrop Grumman with flight tests of the stealthy unmanned strategic reconnaissance aircraft informally known as "RQ-180" has been suggested as the reason for Northrop Grumman winning the LRSB contest, given that the "RQ-180" is derived from one of Northrop Grumman's SensorCraft concept studies with a simple flying wing planform similar to the initial B-2 design with a single sawtooth trailing edge on the wing center section and apparently has the same wing planform as the B-21.

I'm reserving judgement on how many B-21s will be manufactured, especially bearing in mind the fact that only 21 B-2s were built instead of the 132 aircraft which the US Air Force had hoped to procure. With the service entry of the B-52J (upgrade of the B-52H with Rolls-Royce F130 turbofans and upgraded avionics) slipping to 2033, production of the B-21 offers insurance against any protracted upgrades of existing B-52H fleet to B-52Js or a handful of crashes involving the oldest operational B-52Hs.

Links:

This new nuclear stealth bomber is top secret. So why is the B-21 Raider flying over Palmdale?

The futuristic new B-21 bomber took off on its first flight Friday morning from Palmdale, a milestone event as the plane continues testing.

www.latimes.com

B-21 Raider continues flight test, production

Following its formal unveiling, Dec. 2, 2022, the B-21 Raider began flight testing here where it continues to make progress toward becoming the backbone of the U.S. Air Force bomber fleet.

www.af.mil

Northrop Grumman Wins Air Force's Long Range Strike Bomber Contract

Northrop Grumman has won the right to build the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation bomber.

www.defensenews.com