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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 3409.PDF
US scientists criticise B-2 The B-2 will be unable to carry out its prime mission, the destruction of mobile SS- 24 Scalpel and SS-25 Sickle ICBMs, a Washington-based pressure group, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), declared on the eve of the bomber's roll-out. Michael Brower, a UCS "arms analyst", says that the B-2 lacks the technology to discern SS-25 targets with the necessary accuracy, and will be vulnerable to Soviet defences. Brower says it is crucial that the B-2's role be examined by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, and recom mends that Congress commis sions the Office of Tech nology Assessment to look into the matter. Brower suggests that the USAF should buy mobile ICBMs instead of the B-2, and upgrade the B-1B force with .advanced cruise missiles. The USAF refuses to comment on Brower's assertions. Dr John Pike, Associate Director for Space Policy at the Federation of American Scientists, slammed the B-2 in an attack timed to coincide with Brower's. Dr Pike, who says he has studied the black programme for "several years", says that the B-2 "will be expensive, is probably not going to work, and, to the extent that it will work could be dangerous and destabi lising". Dr Pike estimates that the B-2's price, already almost double the original projected figure, will continue to rise. "If you take the current cost of the B-1B and its 40 per cent cost overrun and project it on to the B-2—probably con servative—you come to the conclusion that B-2 will cost about $850 million a copy." The cost increase is the result of adding the SS-25 mission, he argues. "This imposed the need for some sort of onboard sensor to help it find those targets. Two sensors are used, onboard radar and a datalink to the USAF's new Lacrosse imag ing radar satellite system. Both are unreliable," Dr Pike claims, the radar because its emissions will signal the B-2's presence, and the satellite because it can be shjOt down. "Although the USAF is presurveying possible SS-24 and SS-25 launch sites, the data will not be of much use," says Dr Pike. "By the time the B-2 is deployed, it is very likely that the mobile targeting situation is going to mean looking over a signifi cant part of Soviet territory. The B-2 crew is not going to have time to sift through an avalanche of data". The flying wing design employs a thick supercritical aerofoil, providing ample inter nal volume for fuel and weap ons. What appeared to be a single ventral fin could just be discerned, although this is ques tionable as the underside was in deep shadow. The relaxed- stability design uses a fly-by- wire flight control system, and the trailing-edge control surfaces can be drooped to increase lift at low speeds. The overall shape is smooth, contrasting with the multi- faceted and earlier-technology Lockheed F-117A Stealth fighter. The airframe is believed to consist of carbonfibre and Kevlar, with some titanium in high-stress areas. The B-2's radar cross-section (RCS) is claimed to be as low as lm2, compared with 10m2 for the B-1B and 100m2 on the B- 1A. This low RCS, (presumably measured head-on), coupled Wingspan (ft) Length (ft) Height (ft) Speed (M) Range (n.m.) Crew Cost per Unit ($ million) B-2 172 69 17 0-72 7,500 2 520 B-l 137 147 34 1-25 7,455 4 280 with innovative tactics, makes the B-2 difficult to detect. r' The low-observable (stealth) characteristics include exten sive use of radar-absorbent composite skinning and a completely smooth external shape. The aircraft rolled out last week is a production B-2, fabricated on hard tooling, which makes this the first USAF programme to proceed into production before a single test flight has been completed. The second B-2 is in the final stages of production. The flight-test programme is scheduled to start before the end of January 1989, but Aldridge says that the USAF will fly the aircraft "when it's ready, and not before". The first example will carry out six to eight weeks of systems tests, engine runs, and taxi 'tests before relocating to Edwards on its first flight. Six B-2s will participate in the test programme at Edwards AFB, and all but one will later join the operational force, which will be Above The serial number on the nosegear door indicates that FY 1982 funding bought the first B-2 based initially at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. First deliveries are planned for the 1991 fiscal year, and initial operational capability (with 15 aircraft) will be in the "early 1990s", at a time to be decided by the commander-in- chief of Strategic Air Com mand. Total planned procure ment is for 132 aircraft, although the total cost has fan exceeded the original projec tion of $ 36 • 6 billion in FY 1981; dollars (a unit cost of $277-3 million). The US General Accounting Office now puts the B-2 unit cost at $520 million. Aldridge will only say: "The original estimate has increased, but I'm not willing to reveal by how much. We will determine the cost, and it will be provided to Congress in January." Part of the cost overrun is attributed to redesign work made necessary when the aircraft's mission requirements were changed to include low-altitude pene tration. Aldridge says that some modifications were made to the leading and trailing edges, and that the structure was "beefed up" to withstand the additional loads at low level. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 3 December 1988
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