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The B1 is the obvious choice, except that the upcoming B21 is supposedly a stealth bomber meant to address some limitations of the B2. The fact that the B1 is i
by tropo 8y ago
The B1 is the obvious choice, except that the upcoming B21 is supposedly a stealth bomber meant to address some limitations of the B2. The fact that the B1 is instead getting retired looks like a hint that the B21 will not in fact be what it was claimed to be.
Meanwhile, the B52 is suffering metal fatigue. Replacement would be easy if not for the fact that all of Boeing's large jets now have low-mounted wings (major structure where bomb bay doors would need to go) and steeply sloped rears.
- perilunar 8y ago> all of Boeing's large jets now have low-mounted wings (major structure where bomb bay doors would need to go) Couldn't they just have separate fore and aft bomb bays? > and steeply sloped rears. Why is that an issue? Alternatively, why not adapt the C-17?
- tropo 8y agoI'm assuming you don't want to waste the conical rear section. If you waste it, then to keep the aircraft balanced you must also waste a section at the front. The steeply sloped rear seems to be trouble for adding a bomb bay there. You'd want to fit a rotary dispenser, but it would need to be a conical section designed for a specific location in the aircraft. Sometimes we drop really long bombs to penetrate deep bunkers. These bombs need really long doors.