B-1 Lancer: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Boeing IDS (formerly Rockwell) B-1B Lancer is a long-range heavy bomber in service with the USAF since 1986. Together with the B-52 Stratofortress it is the backbone of the United States's long-range bomber force.

The B-1A model never went into production. The USAF acquired four prototype flight test models in the 1970s, but the program was canceled in 1977. Flight test of the four B-1A models continued through 1981.

The B-1B is the improved variant initiated by the Reagan administration in 1981. The first production model flew in October 1984, and the first B-1B was delivered to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, in June 1985, with initial operational capability on October 1, 1986. The final B-1B was delivered May 2, 1988. A total of 90 front-line aircraft were produced at a cost of over $200 million each.

Technology

The B-1B has a blended wing and body configuration, along with variable-geometry design and turbofan engines, to improve range and speed with enhanced survivability. Forward wing settings are used for takeoff, landings and high-altitude maximum cruise. Aft wing settings are used in high subsonic and supersonic flight, enhancing the B-1B's maneuverability.

The B-1B's offensive avionics include the forward-looking offensive radar set employing synthetic aperture radar, ground moving target indicator and terrain-following radar modes, an extremely accurate Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System, the avionics control unit complex, a Doppler radar, and a radar altimeter. These features enable aircrews to globally navigate, accurately refine aircraft position without the need for ground-based navigation aids, update mission information and target coordinates in-flight, and perform precision bombing.

The B-1B's electronic jamming equipment, infrared countermeasures, radar location and warning systems combine with its low-radar cross-section to aid the aircrat's survival in hostile airspace. The current defensive avionics system consist of the ALQ-161A radio frequency surveillance and electronic countermeasures system, the tail warning function, and the expendable countermeasures system, and is supplemented by the ALE-50 Towed Decoy System.

The defensive avionics system is a comprehensive electronic countermeasures package that detects enemy threats and applies the appropriate countermeasures, such as electronic jamming or dispensing expendable chaff and flares to protect against radar-homing and heat-seeking missiles. The TDS complements the system by providing greater protection against RF threats. Low-radar cross-section is provided by the combination of aircraft structure and radar-absorption materials that reduce the aircraft's radar signature to approximately 1 percent that of the B-52. Similar to the offensive avionics, the defensive suite has a reprogrammable design that allows in-flight changes to be made to counter new or changing threats.

The B1-B has been upgraded since production through the Conventional Mission Upgrade Program. This has improved the precision and standoff weapons and the electronic countermeasures suite. The upgrade program includes GPS receivers, a weapons interface which enables the use of the joint direct attack munition and other weapons, secure radios, and improved computers to support new precision and near-precision weapons such as the wind-corrected munitions dispenser, the joint standoff weapon, the joint air-to-surface standoff missile.

These improvements help lay the foundation for future precision miniature munitions, such as Small Diameter Bomb. These and other improvements are intended to ensure that the B-1 will be viable up to and beyond 2010.

The B-1B holds several world records for speed, payload and distance. The National Aeronautic Association recognized the B-1B for completing one of the 10 most memorable record flights for 1994.

Sometimes critized as redundant, the B-1B was given new life as the new threats of the 21st-century surfaced, and fills a niche in the Air Force inventory. It's worth noting that the project finished on budget, and has higher survivability and speed as compared to the older B-52 which it was intended to replace. With the arrival of limited numbers of B-2s in the 1990s and the continuing use of the B-52s, its value has been questioned. However, the capability of a high speed strike with a large bomb payload for time-sensitive operations is useful, such as for strikes against enemy leaders or delivery of nuclear weapons.

Operationally, the B-1B was first used in combat in support of operations against Iraq during Operation Desert Fox in December 1998. B-1s have been subsequently used in Operation Allied Force (the patrol of no-fly zones in Iraq) and most notably Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

• B-1A
• B-1B

United States Air Force