Phoenix Risen: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE BOEING B-1B

Flight Journal, Apr 2005 by Boyne, Walter

REMEMBER THE OLD Hollywood cliché: a very plain girl gets pushed around by everyone until she suddenly takes off her horn-rimmed glasses, lets her hair down and becomes the belle of the ball? Well, that's the way it was with the Boeing (née Rockwell) B-1B ("the Bone"). The pushing around started way back during the days of its development and continued for decades; but in recent Middle East conflicts, the "glasses" have come off, the "hair" is down, and the plain Jane B-IB has been kicking butt wherever it goes.

The B-1B's transformation from being a target of Congressional budget cutters and columnists who seek weapons-system horror stories to being a bomber to be reckoned with came just in time to save it from early extinction. Its Phoenix-like rise from the ashes of ridicule is long overdue because the B-IB has always been a great airplane despite certain shortcomings in its electronics. Sadly, no one realized that only 100 B-IBs were needed to stifle the Soviet Union; it took as many as 600 B-52s and 1,300 B-47s to accomplish the same task. Nor did anyone credit the expert crews who flew it with élan; their skills overcame most of its electronic shortcomings. But the B-1B has now come into its own with the latest precision-guided munitions and improved intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aids. Quite simply, the Bone was the most effective weapons system used during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Lt. Gen. T. Michael "Buzz" Mosley, the Combined Force Air Component Commander in OIF, referred to the B-1B as his "roving linebacker" and "weapon of choice" because of its flexibility, bomb load, range, loiter time and, most particularly, the eagerness of its aircrews to "stick their noses in the fight." The B-lB's performance in OIF has gained it new support in Congress, and we'll now see more being used in combat for longer than anyone thought possible.

Development history

The B-1B probably had a longer gestation period (23 years) than any aircraft in aviation history. Its conception was in 1961, when it was sought as a replacement for the Boeing B-52. During the years that followed, it went through a series of conceptual phases, each one given a fancy acronym to describe its projected mission. The North American Rockwell XB-70 had been canceled, and the low-level tactics now required of the Boeing B-52 meant that a new penetrator was needed. A 1961 study suggested that a subsonic low-altitude bomber (SLAB) for the stress of terrain-following might replace the B-52. This was followed by the extended-range strike aircraft (ERSA), which featured a variable-sweep wing. A 1963 study resulted in the low altitude manned penetrator (LAMP)-a smaller aircraft with a big payload.

In October 1963, requirements were announced for an advanced manned precision strike system (AMPSS) for subsonic low-altitude flight. The key word in the last two efforts was "manned" because there was a strong body of thought-read "Secretary of Defense Robert S. MacNamara"-that the power of the ICBM rendered manned penetrators superfluous.

By 1964, AMPSS had been changed to AMSA-the Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft, which was to have a high-altitude supersonic capability. Three airframe contractors-Boeing, General Dynamics and North American Rockwell-and three engine contractors-General Electric, Curtiss-Wright and Pratt & Whitneybid for the contracts.

MacNamara then insisted on transforming his infamous Tactical Fighter Experiment (TFX) project into the FB-I T1 A, which would be a strategic bomber intended to replace early models of the B-52 and the Convair B-58. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay opposed this on the grounds that the airplane was too small to carry the necessary fuel and weapons, but MacNamara forced a 252 FB-11IA program on the Air Force.

MacNamara, however, couldn't face the coming debacle in Vietnam, and he left for greener (as in greenback) pastures-the World Bank. Newly elected President Richard M. Nixon appointed Melvin R. Laird as secretary of Defense. He salvaged as much as he could from the FB-IUA program by reducing the FB-IUA purchase order from 252 to 76, and he authorized the AMSA program to proceed.

In April 1969, the AMSA was designated "B-1A." By June 5, 1970, North American 'Rockwell had been selected to build 244 aircraft, and General Electric was to be the engine contractor. Decisions on the offensive and defensive electronic suites were delayed.

Four B-1As were produced; the first flew on December 23, 1974, 13 years after the SLAB study. On June 30, 1977, President Jimmy Carter seized on the pending development of the air launched cruise missile (ALCM) as a reason to cancel the increasingly expensive B-IA. To be fair, he knew that the highly classified stealth bomber was being developed.

On October 2, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced that Rockwell would build 100 B-1B aircraft. About 85 percent of the B-1B's airframe was common to the B-1A, and about 90 percent of the offensive avionics system was derived from equipment installed on the B-52H.