The Rockwell B-1B Lancer in Service

The B-1B initially proved very controversial in service. There were a number of losses from accidents, along with high-profile groundings due to such problems as fuel leaks. The DAS system was particularly troublesome, demanding a series of expensive upgrades. Even after the worst problems were worked out, the bomber's availability rate was low, and ground crews admitted that the big, complicated machine was maintenance-intensive. The Air Force defended the program, pointing out that even the good old dependable B-52 had suffered its share of teething problems in its early days, and that inadequate funding for B-1 spares was a big part of the availability problem. However, the criticisms continued. As if to add to the USAF's embarrassment, the B-1B did not see combat service during the Gulf War in 1991, the B-52 performing all the heavy bomber strikes, despite the fact that the B-1B had a conventional attack capability.

The bomber had been qualified early on to carry Mark 80 series "iron" bombs and comparable mines. The smaller Mark 82 225 kilogram (500 pound) bombs, and the Mark 62 mines based on the Mark 82, are carried in what amounts to a "clip", known as a "Conventional Bomb Module (CBM)". Each CBM can store 28 munitions and one CBM can be loaded into each weapons bay, for a total warload of 84 munitions.

The big 900 kilogram (2,000 pound) Mark 84 bombs, and the comparable Mark 65 mines, are carried on a "Conventional Rotary Launcher (CRL)". Each CRL can carry 8 munitions, for a total warload of 24 munitions. More munitions could be carried on the external hardpoints, but as noted they've never been fitted in practice.

Incidentally, reloading munitions into a Bone is, or at least was, a troublesome procedure. According to the story, since the B-1 was originally designed for the strategic nuclear strike role, not a lot of thought was given to the reloading issue. The assumption was that after the first wave of strikes, the B-1B would have nowhere left to go to reload. This seems a little short-sighted and may be a rumor.

In any case, the reason that the B-1B didn't go into action in the Gulf War was primarily because the USAF reserved the aircraft for nuclear strike, where its superior ability to penetrate enemy airspace made it preferable to the B-52. The B-1B's conventional strike capability was rudimentary, and that mission was better performed by other platforms. Unfortunately, this policy led to more criticism from the US Congress. There was some justification for the criticism, since the fall of the USSR meant that the Air Force needed to deemphasize the deterrent role and focus more heavily on fighting the seemingly endless "little wars" that followed the end of the Cold War.

As a result, the USAF focused on improving the Bone's conventional strike capability.

The Rockwell B-1B Lancer Upgrade program (CMUP)

The B-1B Lancer began the B-1B "Conventional Munitions Upgrade Program (CMUP)" in 1993. CMUP has been implemented as a series of "block" upgrades. "Block A" was defined as the pre-CMUP B-1B, with following blocks defined as follows:

• Block B featured improvements to the AN/APQ-164 SAR mode, as well as tweaks to the DAS to improve maintainability and reduce the number of false alarms. The Block B upgrade program was completed in 1995.
• Block C featured support for carriage of Tactical Munition Dispenser (TMD) cluster bomb canisters. The main change required was modification of a portion of the USAF's inventory of CBMs from their original "28 carry" configuration to a "10 carry" configuration. The modified CBMs allow the B-1B to carry a total of 30 TMDs. There were also changes to B-1B software. The Block C program was begun in 1995 and completed in September 1997.
• Block D featured support for the 450 kilogram (2,000 pound) GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) GPS-guided bombs, giving the B-1B a "near-precision" attack capability. The JDAMs were carried on CRLs, giving the B-1B a total warload of 24 GBU-31s. Other elements of the upgrade included a MIL-STD 1760 "smart weapons" interface for downloading target coordinates into the bombs; a GPS navigation system; improved radios; and support for the AN/ALE-40 towed decoy, which produces a big radar signature to baffle radar-guided missiles. Block D was initiated in 1995 and was completed in 2003. Incidentally, the B-1B has test-dropped laser-guided bombs (LGBs) and can in principle carry them, providing a high-precision strike capability. However, the Bone doesn't carry a laser target designator, and use of LGBs would imply using a target designator provided by another aircraft or by ground forces. There is little evidence that the B-1B has ever carried LGBs on operational missions.
• Block E featured modernized computer modules and improved software, as well as support of new guided munitions, including the "Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD)" guided cluster-bomb unit, the "Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW)" glide bomb, and the "Joint Air To Surface Strike Missile (JASSM)"
• WCMD is essentially a standard TMD cluster bomb canister with a new tailkit featuring an inertial guidance system. GPS capability was not provided for the WCMD as the inertial guidance system was judged to give all the accuracy needed. In any case, WCMD allows cluster bomb canisters to be released at high level. As with "dumb" cluster bomb canisters, the B-1B can carry 30 WCMDs.
• JSOW is a GPS-guided glide weapon with pop-out wings. Only four can be carried on each CRL, limiting B-1B carriage to 12 weapons.
• JASSM is a small cruise missile and eight can be carried on a CRL, providing a full warload of 24 missiles.
• Block E will be able to carry a mixed load of these weapons, and launch them all simultaneously. The Block E upgrade program was initiated in 1995 and has been completed.
• Block F was originally defined to feature major improvements to the DAS, designated the "Defensive System Upgrade Program (DSUP)". However, DSUP was cancelled, throwing plans for improvements in DAS into disarray.

In 1995, to demonstrate that the B-1B was finally coming of age as a first-line aircraft, the Air Force conducted a round-the-world flight with two Bones that broke records. The two bombers made simulated attacks on ranges in Italy, the western Pacific, and the US state of Utah.

The B-1B finally went into combat in December 1998, as part of the four-day series of attacks on Iraq designated OPERATION DESERT FOX, performing six sorties and dropping iron bombs. It went back into action just a few months later in the spring of 1999, as part of the NATO air offensive against Serbian aggression in Kosovo, codenamed OPERATION ALLIED FORCE. The B-1B performed over a hundred sorties, also dropping iron bombs. Cluster bomb canisters were carried but not actually used in action.

The B-1 performed excellent service during OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, the Afghanistan campaign in 2001:2002, often operating in an unusual "close support" role. The bombers would fly out of the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean loaded with JDAMs, then orbit the battle theater, waiting to be informed of a target. The flight crews would receive targeting information over a data link, load it into bombs and set fuzing options, and then proceed to the target area to drop the bombs. They would then return to orbit and wait for a new target. Although there was no real opposition in the air to US forces, one B-1 was lost in early December 2001, due to an engine fire that occurred shortly after takeoff. The four crew members ejected and were recovered safely.

The B-1 was heavily involved in OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, the invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003. Although B-1s only flew 2% of the sorties, they dropped 2,100 JDAMs, or half the total expended. Each B-1 carried 24 900 kilogram (2,000 pound) JDAMs, usually split between penetrators with short delay fuzes and contact detonated bombs. About a dozen B-1Bs were flown from Oman in support of the operation. They were used in "quick reaction" strikes in attempts to kill Iraqi leadership.

The main problem with the 900 kilogram JDAM was that it was far too destructive for attacks on urban targets. A smaller munition was required for such strikes, and in 2005 the Air Force introduced carriage of a 225 kilogram (500 pound) JDAM on the B-1. This fit required no changes in software, but it did dictate modifications to bomb racks.

Another problem that showed up in the Afghanistan and Iraq operations was that B-1 aircrews had no way of directly confirming a target themselves before weapons release, requiring the crew to call in a fighter to check the target, a process that was inefficient and still prone to deadly errors. As a parallel effort, the Air Force evaluated the Lockheed Sniper XR targeting pod on a B-1B, mounted on one of the forward fuselage pylons. The targeting pod could be used to both confirm targets and to evaluate strike damage.

The Air Force wants to implement further improvements to their B-1Bs to keep them effective:

• Link 16 and Fully Integrated Datalink support. Coordinates were relayed by voice during the Iraq intervention, with all four crew writing down the coordinates and then comparing to make sure they were correct.
• A radar upgrade, based on the new AESA radar fitted to the Block 60 F-16, to improve the B-1B's SAR imaging resolution from 3 meters (10 feet) to 30 centimeter (1 foot).
• An improved Defensive Electronic Countermeasures system, possibly based on that of the F/A-18. As shown by the cancellation of DSUP, replacing DAS has proven troublesome, but the USAF still wants a cheaper, more effective system that permits targeting of adversary emitters for destruction.
• Carriage of the new 112 kilogram (250 pound) Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), a GPS-guided munition along the lines of JDAM. The B-1B could use either an SDB four-pack developed for the Lockheed Martin F/A-22 Raptor fighter, or a six-pack developed specifically for the B-1B. In either case, a single pack could be loaded into each of eight stores stations of the B-1B's three rotary launchers, for a total of 96 or 144 SDBs. There is a parallel interest in developing an automatic targeting system that would allow clusters of SDBs to be used to, say, hit a moving convoy of ground vehicles.

While bombers like the B-52, B-1, and B-2 have proven to be highly valuable assets in the widespread small wars that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, these conflicts have not required great fleets of such aircraft. In 2002, the Air Force decided to withdraw 33 of the 91 B-1Bs surviving in service. Eight of the 33 were used as static display pieces, with the other 24 sent to the "boneyard" at Davis-Montham AFB in Arizona. Ten of the 24 were mothballed, while the other 14 will be cannibalized for spares.

The number of B-1B bases was reduced from five to two, including Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota and Dyess AFB in Texas. There were some observers who suspected that the drawdown in B-1B stocks was just a prelude to phasing the machine out completely. It would be deeply ironic for the B-1B to be retired while the B-52H remains in service, but that remains to be seen. In fact, in late 2004, confronted with the obvious utility of the aircraft, seven of the 33 machines retired were brought back into service. Six of these machines actually still were in service, flying as temporary backups to frontline aircraft then being upgraded.

In 2004 the Air Force requested that the aircraft industry submit proposals for a long-range strike platform, for development beginning in 2008, leading to an initial operational capability in 2015 and full operational capability in 2020. Boeing submitted a proposal for a "B-1R", where "R" stood for "Regional", which would be fitted with the Pratt & Whitney F-119 engine used on the F/A-22. Four F-119s would give the B-1R a top speed of over Mach 2 and an operational radius of 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles). It would feature improved stealth features and countermeasures, state-of-the-art radar, AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles for self-defense, and a new light air-to-surface standoff missile.

The Air Force was simply investigating options, and Boeing provided a set of other concepts, such as a long-range robot bomber, a ballistic missile with a maneuvering reentry vehicle, and long-range cruise missiles. Air Force officials have also given some thought to using the B-1B to carry new high-powered attack lasers now in development, but this is a purely speculative concept at this time.

Author: Greg Goebel