Recently in B-2 Category

The US Air Force's Global Strike Command is planning on commemorating the 60th anniversary of the first flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress on 15 April. The original event happened on 15 April, 1952, when the YB-52 prototype took to the air over Seattle, Washington.

 The YB-52 is actually the second Stratofortress built by Boeing. The XB-52, which was the first aircraft, was damaged during ground testing and first flew on 2 October, 1952.

 Unlike the current B-52 flying today, the original two test planes had the crew sitting in tandem similar to the earlier B-47 aircraft.

 Anyways, the B-52 has been in the USAF fleet for so long that there are quite literally generations who have flown the type. One such example is the 23^rd Bomb Squadron's 1st Lt Daniel Welch, who is stationed at Minot AFB, North Dakota. His dad and grandfather both flew the eight-engine bomber.

 There is a joke in the USAF that when any given newer type of bomber is retired to the "Boneyard", the last crew who drops off that aircraft to Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona will be picked up in a B-52. And there is more than a grain of truth to that...

 The B-52 has outlived all of its would be replacements. Remember the B-58 Hustler Mach 2+ bomber? Gone. XB-70--it's in a museum in Ohio. FB-111? Those are rotting away in the desert somewhere. And probably so will the B-1 and B-2 when it comes to their turn... (Don't have a crystal ball, just willing to make that bet)

 The USAF is working on a new stealth bomber under a new program called the Long Range Strike-Bomber as part of its classified budget. The service wants 80 to 100 of the aircraft to enter service in the mid-2020s and cost $550 million each.  It will rely on "mature technologies" --even if it's supposed to be optionally manned--and the USAF will watch its appetite for added new capabilities, Air Force chief Gen. Norton Schwartz insists. But he's leaving in a couple of months- what then?

 The USAF has a long track record of bungling acquisitions programs and overreaching on technical requirements--so the jury is still out on if this new LRS-B will ever see the light of day.

 Given the ever aging and ever shrinking USAF bomber fleet, it had better work out better than the F-22 and F-35 programs, much less the ill-fated Navy A-12 program (which was also developed largely in the classified space).

The Global Strike Command has put together a timeline here:

 April 15, 1952 - The first flight of the YB-52 Stratofortress will be commemorated with a long-duration flight from AFGSC Headquarters at Barksdale.

 May 10 through Oct. 23, 1972 - Operation Linebacker - Linebacker was the first continuous bombing effort conducted against North Vietnam since the bombing halt instituted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in November 1968.

 June 18, 1965 - Operation Arc Light - The first use of the B-52D Stratofortress as a conventional bomber from bases in the U.S. to Guam to support ground combat operations in Vietnam.

 Aug. 2, 1994 - B-52's first round-the-world bombing mission.

 Oct. 26, 1962 - Strategic Air Command received the last B-52 from production line

 Dec. 18 through 29, 1972 - Operation Linebacker II - This operation saw the largest heavy bomber strikes launched by the U.S. Air Force since the end of World War II.

Very big bombs -- like the 10-ton Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) and the 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) -- are back in style after about a 60-year hiatus.

Not since the days of Barnes Wallis and his famous Grand Slam have munitions makers been so focused on things that go boom, sans mushroom cloud.

Alas, it's going to be a while before anybody knows whether the MOP actually works, since the first drop test has been delayed 10 months to June. (Ironically, the flight test for the 787 -- a very different aerodynamic specimen also made by Boeing -- was delayed by the same margin.)

Anyway, here's my story on FlightGlobal.com.

An excerpt:

The programme has slipped because of technical problems with a "common carriage" bomb-release rack, says Davis. The undisclosed difficulties have forced the AFRL to design a new bomb rack for the MOP.

Development of the weapon's components, including guidance system, control surfaces, fuses and arming device, remain on track, says Davis. AFRL has increased the test programme's budget to $30 million - a $10 million jump - to cover development of the unique bomb rack.

It is not clear how the delays will affect the timetable for the US Air Forces's plan to integrate the same weapon on the Northrop Grumman B-2. US Congress has blocked the funding request to integrate the MOP into the B-2.

A bureaucracy that still smarts over revelations of $600 toilet seats and $1,000 hammers should be more careful than to spend $533,331 on a contract listed only as "B-2 accessories".

I know about this contract because of last week's post about the ongoing competition for the Flexible Acquisition Sustainment Tool follow-on (F2AST) program. This is a huge umbrella contract that allows the US Air Force to buy upgrades and modifications for aircraft a la cart.

(To find the B-2 item, click on this link, then click the "fast total orders awarded" tab on the bottom of the spreadsheet, then scroll down to entry #331.)

Who knew a stealth bomber needs accessories? I don't know for sure what a $533,331 contract buys in the defense business (besides two cups of coffee and a half-hour powerpoint presentation by a consultant), but I thought I might try a few other guesses:

1. Platinum-coated inlet grills, a la Flavor Flav
2. Inlaid mother of pearl embellishments for the mother of all bombs
3. This season's "it" electronic flight bags by Balenciaga
4. One celebrity-bred Chihuahua per combat-coded bomber

This is, of course, a competition. If you can come up with my favorite suggestion, I am prepared to offer as a reward one of my coolest conference freebies: a 2008 pocket calendar from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.