U.S. B-1B Lancer bombers arm with hypersonic missiles

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American supersonic bombers B-1B Lancer in the future will be able to take on board 31 hypersonic missiles. This was reported on the eve of the publication Air Force Magazine, referring to a statement by US Air Force General Timothy Ray.

We are talking about the missiles AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon and Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept. High-speed strike weapons will be placed on external suspensions and in the internal compartments of the aircraft.



Earlier, the US Air Force command stated that it intends to write off 17 bombers with a variable-form B-1B Lancer wing in the near future. The reason for this decision was the continuous operation of military vehicles over the past 20 years, which could adversely affect the design of the airframe.

The remaining (most combat-ready) aircraft, according to the general, will receive hypersonic weapons and thereby “unload” the older B-52 Stratofortress. In addition, the B-1B Lancer plans to engage in hypersonic research.

Recall that the development of the AGM-183A ARRW has been conducted by Lockheed Martin since 2018. Serial production of hypersonic missiles is scheduled for 2021. In turn, the demonstration of high-speed strike weapons HAWC planned by the Pentagon and the Office of Advanced Defense Research (DARPA) supposedly at the end of this year.
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  1. 123
    123
    +3
    April 11 2020 12: 32
    U.S. B-1B Lancer bombers arm with hypersonic missiles

    Yes Yes, Yes even the marines are armed with blasters and lightsabers. Maybe you should make a rocket first?
  2. Orange big
    Orange big
    +1
    April 11 2020 15: 20
    This is an attempt to create an analogue of the Dagger, but there work has just begun. And everyone is already waiting for the result.

    Last year’s contract provides for the completion of work on ARRW before the end of 2021, after which the US Air Force will be able to begin full-fledged operation of new weapons. It’s too early to say whether the Pentagon will be able to fulfill its plans on time. To date, the AGM-183A project has only reached the export of a prototype and has not yet reached the testing stage. On the other hand, from the signing of the contract to the first flight with the layout, only 10 months have passed. Lockheed Martin still has a substantial margin of time sufficient to create and test the required weapons.
    It should be borne in mind that the success of the ARRW program depends not only on the AGM-183A missile itself. A key element of the project is the TBG hypersonic warhead, which has been underway for several years. According to foreign press reports, in the early spring of this year, the TBG product entered the first flight tests, but it is still far from full-fledged flights in operating modes.
    Thus, in the absence of any difficulties in the two promising projects of the US Air Force in the foreseeable future, they can indeed receive a fundamentally new weapon with high technical and combat characteristics. However, difficulties in creating a TBG or AGM-183A can lead to unpleasant consequences in the form of a delay in the adoption of missiles into service or even abandonment of the entire program.

    https://topwar.ru/160920-ajeroballisticheskaja-raketa-agm-183a-arrw-ssha-sokraschajut-otstavanie.html
  3. Afinogen
    Afinogen
    +1
    April 11 2020 16: 29
    will be able to take on board 31 hypersonic missiles

    Something I strongly doubt that so many missiles fit in a bomber.
  4. Nick
    Nick
    0
    April 11 2020 19: 42
    In Russia they say -

    They didn’t boast about walking ...