LADIES AND GENTLEMEN MY TIME TO EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY THE B-1B BOMBER WAS USED HAS COME. THREAD INCOMING
First off, there is no need to remind but let's. The B-1B is a nonnuclear bomber. This would have been a conventional strike using precision guided bombs. Here's what the B-1 can carry #Syria
They are: the Mk-82 or Mk-84 general purpose bombs; the Mk-62 or Mk-65 Quick Strike naval mines bombs; cluster munitions such as the CBU-87, -89, -97 or Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispensers like the CBU-103, -104, -105; the GBU-31 or GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions;
And finally, the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles; and the GBU-54 Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions.
The JASSM-Extended Range is, as they say, a "smart missile" because of its low observability
The JASSM-Extended Range is, as they say, a "smart missile" because of its low observability
Unplanned, but what @LockheedMartin told me this week @ #SAS2018 > Upgrades are retrofittable on the JASSMER. The Air Force, for example, is looking for new wings on JASSM-ER to give it efficient extended range, and a next-generation GPS receiver.
Back to the aircraft itself: B-1B bombers have the ability to operate in what is called terrain follow mode, or TERFLW. It helps the long-range bomber hover hundreds of feet above the ground and closely monitor and stalk targets, SHOULD IT NEED TO
How do I know? BC in December, I took a ride in B-1B At Dyess AFB, Tx. VIDEO of how the B-1 operates in TERFLW > military.com/video/aircraft…
Guys I will continue this soon. I must write a story.
OK. I will continue my why using the B-1 bomber would make sense under these conditions in addition to sending a message thread. Re: the message being, hey, here's some strategic bombers in response to your chemical weapons attack...
Even though the CENTCOM AOR is pretty vast, B-1 pilots and crew always tout it's two strengths: payload and range. When I visited Dyess in December, pilots said they would be able to fly from say, one side of Afghanistan to the other, in limited time due to its speed.
To quote officials of the 9th Bomb Squadron, "Because of the payload that we have, the speed, the gas, we can stay [in a location] for long periods of time. And just unleash." Re: military.com/daily-news/201…
Payload wise? it can carry the most precision guided weapons in its bomb rack, or just a variety of both PGM and conventional > military.com/defensetech/20…
"We have the sensors. We have the speed, the shows of force. We are so [forward-leaning] in this community. We try to think of ways for the crews and the airplane to do things you would have never thought of doing with it" -- Lt. Col."Beaver" Ross, ops director 337th T&E Squadron
"The list of weapons [we have now], it's pages and pages of different options and different systems," Lt. Col. Christopher Wachter, director of operations for the 345th Bomb Squadron at Dyess, told me in December. "The mission sets [have] grown."
Re > military.com/daily-news/201…
Re > military.com/daily-news/201…
Lastly, one simple reason? They're in the area. The B-1s are back in CENTCOM for the first time in 2.5 years after getting some new display upgrades that help them range targets better and have better communications w other aircraft. military.com/daily-news/201…
With that, goodnight.
With that, goodnight.
