Operating for over thirty years, the Lancer and the Spirit are stalwart workhorses in the United States Air Force’s strategic bomber fleet, incorporating unmatched capability into long-range precision and stealth operations.
This bomber, affectionately known as “The Bone” because of its phonetic designation B-ONE, remains the linchpin in America’s long-range bomber force.
It is the biggest conventional payload that the Department of the Air Force can carry to date, guided or unguided, and capable of delivering massive quantities of ordnance anywhere in the world at any time.
The roots of the B-1B started long before the B-52 Stratofortress ever had a chance to take flight. Research in the 1950s produced the B-58 Hustler and XB-70 Valkyrie. Although the XB-70 program was canceled, it gave a starting point for future development.
In the 1970s, the Air Force was looking at low-flying bombers capable of piercing an enemy’s defenses; thus, Rockwell International began developing the B-1A. The program was canceled in 1977 but then it was resumed during President Reagan’s regime with the development of B-1B in the 1980s.
The first production B-1B flew in October 1984, with deliveries beginning in June 1985. It reached initial operational capability on October 1, 1986. The last B-1B delivered was on May 2, 1988. B-1B holds close to 50 world records in its category for speed, payload, range, and time of climb.
The first battle experience saw the B-1B aircraft engage in strikes on targets in Iraq in 1998. For example, in 1999, during the operation known as Operation Allied Force in Yugoslavia, although the aircraft flew fewer than 2% of the total number of combat sorties, the weapon it delivered comprised more than 20% of the cumulative ordnance dropped.
That corresponded to a good 40% of the total tonnage that the aircraft managed to deliver during Operation Enduring Freedom. It was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom wherein it flew less than 1% of the combat missions but used JDAMs for 43% of deliveries. It also continues to exist, flying daily missions, on the ongoing operations.
This makes the B-2 Spirit one of the most flexible airframes in the Air Force inventory, with a peculiar mix of stealth, long-range capability, and payload capacity. It allows it to deliver critical strikes on sophisticated defenses and those with heavy defenses.
The B-2 focused on having low-observable technology where the aircraft had high aerodynamic efficiency combined with payload carrying. In other words, stealth features are characterized as an infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual, and radar signature that is sufficiently reduced, thereby making it pretty impossible for enemy defenses to track and intercept. B-2 aircraft have a range of almost 6,000 nautical miles without refueling and go up to 10,000 nautical miles once it has aerial refueling.
It made its first public appearance on Nov. 22, 1988, but didn’t fly until July 17, 1989. Whiteman AFB, MO is its only operational base and is the first delivery off the assembly line on Dec. 17, 1993. The B-2 served in Operation Allied Force quite smoothly and destroyed 33 percent of the Serbian targets in the first eight weeks.
It also supported Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom operations. It flew long-haul missions, with rather plenty of ordnance delivered.
For example, in 2017, two B-2s supported a 34-hour mission intended to strike at a training camp run by ISIS in Libya, really exemplifying the global reach and precision strike capabilities of this aircraft. It continues today as the B-2 readily participates in the Continuous Bomber Presence mission to the region as an element of American support.
The 379th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, continues to strive for better in 2016 and beyond. As an enabler of operations Inherent Resolve and Freedom’s Sentinel, the Wing’s KC-135 Stratotankers off-loaded over 700 million pounds of fuel, supporting upwards of 20,000 sorties. During the last year, B-1 assigned to the wing dropped more weapons on enemy targets than it did during the combined total of the previous seven years.
Brig. Gen. Darren James praised the professionalism and dedication of airmen: “We accomplish the mission and set records on the backs of the airmen of this wing.” Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Good talked about inspiration from the sacrifices and commitment of service members.
“Looking to 2016, James said the 379 AEW likely will break more records and overcome more challenges, especially the uncertainties of future operations. Taking care of service members by providing them with the right tools and support was foremost, followed by the mission, wingmen, and partners.”.
The B-1B Lancer, the B-2 Spirit, and every member of the 379th AEW are proud embodiments of the might and vigor that is the U.S. Air Force, committed to constant vigilance toward keeping the force at the edge of the envelope in a dynamic strategic setting.