MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III discussed the state of the Air Force during a press conference at the Pentagon March 7.

During the press conference, both leaders acknowledged a lot has happened since the last "State of the Air Force" address in August 2015, pointing to the need for the Air Force to modernize aircraft to provide warfighters with enhanced capabilities.

One example of the service's effort to modernize is the B-21. James said in the case of the 21st century bomber the Air Force is leaning forward and trying to be more transparent.

"We've given the bomber a designation, shown you an artist's rendering, given a detailed explanation of the acquisition approach, and told you how we'll hold down costs," James said.

James also announced that Airmen and families can now go online and submit their idea for naming the B-21 by clicking here.

As part of her remarks, the secretary also shared the list of seven sub-contractors who will be working with Northrop Grumman in building the first bomber of the 21st century. The list includes: BAE Systems, GKN Aerospace, Janicki Industries, Orbital ATK, Pratt & Whitney, Rockwell Collins, and Spirit Aerosystems.

"We have an outstanding relationship with Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force. We are excited to begin a new chapter as Northrop Grumman places their trust in a Pratt & Whitney-powered B-21 to meet U.S. Air Force mission requirements," said Bennett Croswell, president, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines. "We look forward to working together with Northrop Grumman and with the U.S. Air Force to deliver a highly capable propulsion system for the B-21."

PRATT & WHITNEY OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON B-21 PROGRAM

Pratt & Whitney is proud to have been selected as the propulsion provider by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. Air Force B-21 Bomber Program. The company has made significant investment in research and development to mature critical technologies applicable to the B-21 platform. Combining this investment with our fielded fifth generation experience with F119 and F135 engines, Pratt & Whitney is technology-ready for the B-21 development program. We are prepared to work with Northrop Grumman to develop and field a B-21 weapon system that fulfills Air Force mission requirements.

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“While we remain firmly convinced of the validity of the issues raised in our protest to the [GAO] of the long range strike-bomber contract award to Northrop Grumman, the Boeing-Lockheed Martin team has decided not to pursue further challenges to that award, either through the GAO or in federal court,” Boeing and Lockheed say in a joint statement on 26 February. “This decision was taken, as always, with the best interests of our customer and the warfighter in mind.”

Asked about reports earlier today that Boeing won't pursue legal action, James said she hoped that would be the case. “I did receive a phone call earlier this week from the CEO of Boeing, which was encouraging,” says James. “Boeing is a very valuable partner and we have a lot going on with Boeing and we need to get on with the bomber.”

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First and foremost, the new B-21 looks very similar to its B-2 Spirit predecessor. In fact, the new aircraft look startlingly similar to the original Advanced Strategic Penetration Aircraft (ASPA) and the later Advanced Technology Bomber concept from the 1980s that ultimately resulted in the B-2. But the Spirit was redesigned late in the game to operate at low altitudes after Dr. Paul Kaminski’s—current chairman of the Defense Science Board—Red Team cautioned that the B-2 might have to resort to low-level penetration as the Soviets built new, more capable radars—as legendary Aviation Week journalist Bill Sweetman points out in his book “Inside the Stealth Bomber.” The redesign caused a decrease in range and payload, as well as a larger radar cross-section.

If the current B-21 design is truly representative of the direction the Air Force is taking, the new aircraft will take the B-2’s all-aspect stealth design to the next level. Particularly, the B-21’s low observable design will be more effective against low frequency radars operating in the UHF and VHF bands, which are increasingly coming into vogue as a means to counter stealth aircraft. Indeed, as then Air Force chief of staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told the House Armed Services Committee in 2012, even the B-2 is starting to lose its ability penetrate hostile airspace. “The technology on which they were designed with respect to signature management . . . is ‘80s vintage,” Schwartz told the committee, adding, “the reality is that the B-2 over time is going to become less survivable in contested airspace.”

The B-21 design—which is similar to the original high-attitude optimized B-2 design—is built to counter the low frequency radars that can detect and track tactical fighter-sized stealth aircraft. Unlike an F-22 or F-35, which are designed to operate in an environment where the enemy might be aware of their presence, the B-2 and B-21 are designed to avoid detection altogether. Basically, the B-21 (and B-2 to an extent)—with its large flying-wing design—reduces its low frequency radar cross-section to the point where it blends in with the background noise inherent to those UHF/VHF band systems. That’s similar in concept to how a submarine hides in the background noise of the ocean. But—like all stealth aircraft—it will not be invisible. Stealth is not a cloak of invisibility, after all. Stealth technology simply delays detection and tracking.

While the Air Force’s rendering of the B-21 gives us some clues as to the configuration of the new aircraft, most of its other parameters remain unknown. The B-21’s size and payload will largely be determined by whatever propulsion system is readily available to power it. Given that the LRS-B is slated to enter into service in the mid-2020s, the aircraft will necessarily have to use an existing engine design. Moreover, that engine must have a profile conducive to a stealth aircraft.

New Air Force Bomber Unveiled

New Air Force Bomber Unveiled Today, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James unveiled the  newest Air Force idea for a Bomber to be built by Northrop Grumman.  As of yesterday speculation over its designation ran high – wondering whether the USAF would continue its B- designations or something else. Today that speculation dissolved, as the new bomber will be the B-21. The artists conception was was…

Northrop Grumman Gets Lucky With the Long Range Strike Bomber Contract

Northrop Grumman has won the contract to build the next-generation Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) for the USAF. This contract will shape the industry and add new life to the world’s sixth-largest defense company.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Air Force leadership announced that Northrop beat out the team of Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the contract. The contract is expected to top $55…

Remember the B-1 bomber? It was, well, a disaster. President Carter cancelled it, on the rather sensible grounds that ICBMs had made manned bombers obsolete. But Ronald Reagan never let a little thing like obsolescence stand in the way of spending money, as long as it was for something cool, like a useless long-range bomber, and he reinstated the B-1, ultimately buying a hundred of them. As the B-1s rolled off the assembly lines, the Air Force concluded that the shiny new planes would not be able to penetrate Soviet air defenses.

Well, the Soviet Union fell, but the B-1 soldiered on, in budgetary terms, at least. The Air Force continued to maintain and upgrade the planes, strongly “encouraged” by interested members of Congress, even though, as it turned out, the B-1 couldn’t penetrate any nation’s air defenses, because the plane’s computer systems could not activate the plane's defensive and offensive systems at the same time, something that might have been thought of earlier.

So the B-1, throughout its mute, inglorious history, has served as nothing more than a corporate welfare program and (occasional) rubble bouncer, flying missions only after aircraft that can actually function in combat have wiped out the enemy’s defenses. Thank God for the B-2, eh?

Yes, the B-2, the stealth miracle, the plane of the future. The U.S. planned to buy 132 planes, but ended up with 21, suggesting a certain lack of enthusiasm for the B-2, which costs four times as much to operate as the 60-year-old B-52, which the Air Force expects to keep in the air into the 2040s.

With the Air Force’s track record, one might cast a skeptical eye on plans for the “Long Range Strike-Bomber” or “LRS-B” (for some reason, no one has the balls to call it the “B-3”). Especially since last year the Air Force told Congress that it intended to spend $33.1 billion on the new plane over the next twenty years. Except that this year, the Air Force said it would be spending $58.4 billion. When someone pointed out the rather large discrepancy, the Air Force “explained” that they really meant $41.7 billion. So we can all rest assured that a great tradition will be maintained.

USAF Is Busy In Carving Out New Long Range Strike Bomber

Almost 30 years ago, the first stealth bomber of the U.S. Air Force took off for a flight. Now, the Air Force needs new equipment to phase out its aging fleet, which is primed for a makeover; albeit an expensive one.

The Pentagon is seriously evaluating the possibility to upgrade its stealth aircraft for the first time since the 1970s by developing a high-priority and super-classified…

Northrup Grumman Super Bowl Ad Might Hint at the Lines of the Top Secret Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) - Conceptual Art Shown Below.