The idea behind the XB-70 originated in
the 1950s when it was assumed ever
greater speeds and altitudes would
enable american bombers to survive
against soviet air defenses unmolested
on their way to delivering their
doomsday payloads. At the time the only effective defense
against bombers were fighters and
anti-aircraft artillery. Even then anti-aircraft guns were only
marginally effective and interceptors
were increasingly challenged by ever
improving bomber performance.
However with the advent of
surface-to-air missiles or sam, that
began to change the balance started to
tip in favor of the defender. While the u.s air force was aware of
soviet advances in sam technology the
pentagon didn't start to understand the
scope of the problem until francis gary
power's Lockheed U2 Spy Plane was shot
down while overflying the soviet union
on may 1st 1960. But development of the xb70 continued
nonetheless. With the growing realization
that soviet sams posed an increasing
threat to american bombers. the pentagon
started to explore low-level penetration
as an alternative.
Low-level penetration involved flying
under the radar horizon using terrain to
mask a bomber's approach which greatly
reduces enemy response times. Moreover the development of
intercontinental ballistic missiles
greatly reduced the united states
reliance on manned bombers. Many leading military strategists of the
time believed bombers were too
vulnerable to survive the journey into
soviet airspace.
As a result president john f
kennedy decided to cancel the XB-70 as a
frontline bomber program on march 28/1961. Meanwhile the xb70 test program
continued. The jet made its first flight
on september 21/1964, when it flew from
palmdale to edwards air force base cClif. But the first XB-70 proved to be a
disappointment, it had poor directional
stability above mach 2.5 and made only
one flight above mach 3.
The second jet which flew on july 17/1965, added five degrees of dihedral on
the wings for better supersonic
stability. Tragedy struck on june 8th 1966
when the second XB-70 prototype was
destroyed in a crash after a mid-air
collision with its F-104 in chase plane. Two people were killed and one was
severely injured during the accident.
The loss of the second aircraft which
was much more capable than the first was
a huge setback. However continued until february 4/1969. Ultimately the first XB-70 logged 83
flights totaling 160 hours and 16
minutes. While the second xb70 logged 46
flights totaling 92 hours and 22 minutes
according to NASA. The XB-70, while a technological wonder at
the time was the wrong plane for the
wrong time. It came at a time when
ballistic missiles were thought to be
supplanting manned bombers.
Moreover it was being developed at a
time when it was increasingly apparent
that high speed and high altitude were
not sufficient protection against
surface-to-air missiles or the next
generation of soviet fighters. but the nail in the coffin was the jet's
exorbitant price tag and lack of mission
flexibility the B-70 couldn't be adapted
for the low-level role. let's hope today's shadowy long-range
strike bomber fares better.
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