According to a news release the news of the test conducted at
holloman air force base the missile was launched from the
external pylon outside the lancers
internal bomb bay the Pylon typically carries the bomber's
sniper targeting pod, a tracking device
used for target detection and
identification. the bomber is assigned to edward's 412th
test wing.
Military.com first reported last month
that the air force conducted an
inaugural captive carry test of the JASSM externally on the B1 a step forward
efforts to develop the B1 to carry
sophisticated ordnance like hypersonic
missiles in the future. The air force test center is
enthusiastically teaming with the air
force global strike command to enable
greater flexibility in bomber payloads. Demonstration of B1B external carriage
reflects the potential to keep weapon
systems in the fight with increased
combat capability.
In addition to JASSM the B1 can carry the
long-range anti-ship missile or LRASM. A single B1B can hold up to 24 LRASMs. The navy missile which can autonomously
locate and track targets while avoiding
friendly forces, achieved early
operational capability on the bomber in
2018. Together the two tests are a proof of
concept for the bomber's ability to
carry 24 JASSMs and or LRASMs internally
with 6 to 12 weapons externally.
The proposed increase means that two
bombers would equal three bombers worth
of weapons. arming a limited number of B-1s with
more weapons externally could enable
global strike command to provide more
weapons for geographic combatant
commanders while putting fewer aircraft
and aircrew in harm's way.
In august 2019 the air force proved it
could adapt the lancer to hold more
ordinance, a first step toward carrying
enhanced weapons payloads. That test also conducted by the 419th, demonstrated that crews could fasten new
racks onto the B1's external hardpoints
as well as reconfigure its internal bomb
bays to hold heavier weapons to allow for the release of the inert
bomb in the most recent test the pylon
and related internal wiring were
mechanically altered.
High-speed camera is capable of
capturing up to 500 frames per second
were secured onto the supersonic lancer
in order to better analyze the data and
characteristics of the test. The most important product for this
specific mission is excellent imagery of
the release from multiple angles to not
only verify safe separation but to
provide information about the weapon
itself, like fin deployment.
The external hardpoints on the heavy
payload B1B were once built to carry
nuclear-tipped cruise missiles a mission
the long-range aircraft no longer has. The conversion process to make the b-1
non-nuclear began under the strategic
arms reduction treaty made an agreement
with russia. the final conversion took
place in 2011.
The command reiterated in the release
that while using the external pylons
reactivates the original design and
inherent capability. The change does not
violate the new start agreement, while experts have recently debated
whether a new physical conversion to the
hardpoints themselves violate
characteristics within the treaty. The
event is still not a secret return to
nuclear mission, but it would help if the air force
released a legal analysis to support its
claim that it remains within treaty
bounds.
Service officials said the demo does not
affect the air force's request to retire
17 B-1B bombers in 2021, reducing the
fleet to just 44 aircraft in order to
better sustain the most viable planes. In the final version of the fiscal 2021
national defense authorization act
released last week. Lawmakers stipulated
the service can retire some aircraft as
long as it maintains 92 primary mission
bombers of any kind, including the B-52
stratofortress and B-2 spirit. Defense
news reported
the service plans to retire the entire B-1 fleet by 2036.
