Posted on 09/10/2010 8:03:25 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
In 1956, when I was 4 years old, we lived in one of the houses along the perimeter of the “airfield” section of Carswell; I could sit out in the back yard watching B-36s and bulldozers all day.
Life was good.
If the target's a couple thousand miles inland, probably "None".
The only FAE bomb we have (that I know of - and I certainly may be wrong) is dropped by parachute from the end of a C-130 ramp.
The B-1 rotary drop bomb racks can’t carry it.
FYI - great video of the BLU-96 dropping on YouTube.
Maybe someone can explain, but how do you get more of them on a B-1 than a B-52? The B-52 can carry a small city.
The B-1B has a heavier payload capacity than the B-52. Anyway, Id assume that the carriage of particular weapons is linked to the capacity of the respective onboard launchers.
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/military/read.main/40642/
Jealous much? :-)
How many nuclear weapons do they trust the Army with?
We need strong carrier capacity, but the problem with cyclic attacks is the enemy is ready for you after the first wave.
You get the true benefit of surprise once and only once. First sortie capacity is very important.
The B-1B is an outstanding aircraft that took a long time to come of age. We should get as much life out of each of them now that they can do so much.
And man to they look and sound GREAT!!
My reference for the B-1’s three internal bomb bays, plus wing-mounted weapons is “Bone - B-1 Lancer in Action” by Squadron/Signal Publications, aircraft book nbr 179, text and photos by Lou Drendel.
A good friend’s dad was killed testing the early B-1X - so I feel “attached” to it more than many.
75,000 lbs internally in 3x bomb bays
59,000 lbs externally
Certified for B61 and B83 gravity nuclear bombs and AGM-69 cruise missiles - but all nuke ability was removed and the plane’s inspected by the Russians as part of the SALT treaties. (Nothing like letting the Russians inspect our bomb bays, is there?)
84x conventional Mk84 500 lb bombs in each bay is most common load.
8x Mk 84 2000 lb bombs in each bay.
10x cluster bombs CBU-87 in each bay with 202 bomblets each.
10x CBU-89 anti-tank cluster bombs with 79 bomblets in each CBU in each of 3x bays.
10x self-guided CBU-97 anti-tank rockets in each bay
Aux fuel tank
CBU-32 JDAM self-guided bomb control links.
AGM missiles, etc.
Nothing in his list has the large-diameter fuel air explosive bomb. The central “axle” of the convtentional weapons module (CWM) “hangers” for the bombs won’t let it fit.
24 AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missiles. Thanks sukhoi-30mki.
I can neither confirm nor deny ...
;)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.