Dramatic exercises over the black sea in
recent years have underscored the swing
wing bomber's new maritime strike role. Four B-1s from the seventh bomb wing at
dyess air force base in texas in early
october deployed to the royal air force
base at fairford. In the pre-dawn darkness on october 19th
two of the bombers took off for what
would be a 12-hour mission. Clutching targeting pods under their
bellies, the bombers codenamed dark 01
and dark 02 flew east over the north sea. Topped off their fuel tanks courtesy of
at least one usa fkc 135 from ralph
mildenhall then winged south, bound for
the black sea.
The polish and romanian air forces as
well as a canadian air force contingent
in romania seized the opportunity. All three air arms sent fighters to fly
alongside the B-1s. In wartime the non-stealthy bombers
might need escort to protect them from
russian fighters.
The black sea has become a much more
dangerous place since the 2014 russian
invasion of ukraine's crimean peninsula. Crimea since then has become a veritable
fortress on NATO's southeastern flank. The kremlin has staged ships, fighters
and missiles in crimea. NATO ships and
surveillance planes crisscross
international waters and airspace in
order to keep tabs on the build-up.
in wartime the black sea could become a
shooting gallery. b-minus ones could be
the biggest shooters. when the 100 b-1s
entered service in the mid-1980s they
strictly were nuclear strike assets. the USAF in the early 1990s
denuclearized the type. the fleet
steadily shrank through the 2000s.
When
the united states and its allies invaded
afghanistan in 2001 and iraq two years
later there were around 60 B-1s in
service. The bombers spent more than a decade
flying high and slow over arid
battlegrounds, dropping bombs on
insurgents and militants.
The relentless pace of operations took a
toll on the B-1s. The cost of maintaining the increasingly
weary bomber spiked, the air force in
2020 begged congress for permission to
retire the 17 most fatigued B-1s. Leaving
45 in service until the B-21 replaces
them in the late 2020s and early 2030s.
In the meantime the B-1 force pivoted. After 20 years flying over deserts and
mountains the B-1 squadrons shifted
focus to water. With its 5,000 mile range and 25-ton
payload the bomber is ideal for maritime
missions.
The B-1 in 2017 became the first type the USAF modified to carry the new
long-range anti-ship missile, a stealthy
300-mile munition with a high-tech
multi-mode seeker. A B-1 can carry as many as 24 of the 3
million missiles. A pair of B-1s could shoot 48 LRASMs at
russia's baltic fleet.
Enough perhaps to sink the entire fleet
in a single pass and eliminate the major
threat to u.s and allied ships in the
region. LRASMs plays a critical role in ensuring
u.s naval access, lieutenant Colonel Timothy Albrecht
a bomber planner with the 603rd air
operations center in germany said last
year during an earlier B-1 deployment to
europe.
