Why the “flying wing” design for bombers is back in favor

November 15, 2023 9

The United States has tested a new strategic bomber, the B-21 Raider, built according to the “flying wing” design. Why, in our age of hypersonic missiles and supersonic speeds, did the Americans decide to rely on a subsonic aircraft?

"Judgment Day"

Strategic aviation is an integral part of the “nuclear triad”, which only three countries in the world fully possess - the USA, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. Strategic bombers are designed to carry out bombing and/or missile attacks, including nuclear ones, on strategically significant targets located on the territory of a hostile state and must have an intercontinental flight range. These are the first and oldest carriers of nuclear weapons, and no one is going to give them up.

However, the real possibilities of using strategic aviation in the Yom Kippur War will be seriously limited by the capabilities of the enemy’s air defense/missile defense system. Initially, the designers relied on supersonic speed to overcome the air defense line in order to reach an effective strike distance. This is how the American B-1 Lancer and our Tu-160 “White Swan” appeared. But with the development of the capabilities of modern anti-aircraft systems, engineers had to focus on stealth technologies that would allow the bomber not to break through, but to bypass enemy air defenses.

The first country that was able to create a serial strategic stealth bomber B-2 Spirit was the United States. The aircraft turned out to be truly advanced for its time, extremely complex and extremely expensive to produce and subsequently maintain. As of 1998, the cost of one B-2 was 1,157 billion "those" dollars. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Washington no longer needed a large number of “strategists” of this type, and instead of the planned 130, only 20 were assembled.

At the same time, Spirit did not stand idle all these years, but was used for its intended purpose, albeit with non-nuclear ammunition. These planes dropped precision bombs on Yugoslavia in 1999, flying nonstop from Missouri to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, and then Libya. In fact, they were used as the Pentagon's "far arm" along with B-52 veterans in conventional armed conflicts and special operations. It is interesting that Russia similarly used its Tu-22M3, Tu-95MS and Tu-160 Long-Range Aviation bombers during the Syrian campaign, and now in the Northern Military District in Ukraine.

"Workhorses"

What intermediate conclusion can we draw? In modern realities, strategic bombers are needed not only as carriers of special ammunition for a hypothetical Yom Kippur War, which, hopefully, will never happen, but as a full-fledged “workhorse” of the Air Force/VKS and their “far hand.” At the same time, the aircraft requires not only a large combat radius and a large combat load for maximum efficiency, but also, highly desirable, stealth on enemy radars.

Yes, you can bomb some “barmalei” with their MANPADS or countries that do not have an advanced air defense system from high altitudes with almost impunity. However, in the sky, for example, over Ukraine you don’t see much flying around. Russian “strategists” strike at positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but not with bombs, but with very expensive long-range missiles, avoiding entering the range of destruction of enemy air defense systems. This means that radar-inconspicuous bombers, manned and especially unmanned, capable of operating at both high and ultra-low altitudes, have again become extremely relevant and in demand. However, they do not necessarily have to be supersonic.

That is why the “flying wing” scheme is again in favor. The American B-21 Raider, named after the famous “Doolittle Raid” on Japan during World War II, is a smaller and cheaper version of the B-2. Spirit's handling problems were solved due to the appearance of modern of technologies and new materials. Its combat load can reach 13,6 tons. The aircraft will have manned and unmanned versions. Its armament will be represented by both long-range stealth missiles with a nuclear warhead AGM-181A LRSO (Long Range Stand Off), and heavy-duty gliding anti-bunker bombs GBU-57 MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) of 30 thousand pounds caliber (approximately 13,61 tons) .

The first Chinese strategic stealth bomber, the Xian H-20, was built using the same design. The aircraft will be stealthy, subsonic, have a flight range of up to 8000 km, carry up to 10 tons of combat load and is presumably equipped with the Russian NK-321 engine (version NK-32) or an upgraded version of the Chinese WS-10 engine, which is installed on the Chengdu J- 10.

Russia also has its own answer to the B-21 Raider, which is called PAK DA (Advanced Aviation Complex for Long-Range Aviation), or “Messenger”. It will also be a "flying wing". The flight range of the Russian subsonic aircraft should be 15000 km, the combat load is the largest - up to 35 tons, the crew - 4 people versus 2 for the Americans. The armament will be air-launched cruise missiles, including those with a nuclear warhead, anti-ship missiles, hypersonic missiles, precision bombs and defensive ones.

The Messenger should replace the outdated Tu-95 and take on some of the tasks of the supersonic Tu-160 and Tu-22M3. This is exactly the bomber that is needed for a real war in which Russia is drawn into. In addition, the production of cheaper and more widespread unmanned aerial vehicles, built according to the “flying wing” scheme of the S-70 “Okhotnik” type or its smaller version a la the Iranian “Saiga” family of stealth UAVs, seems extremely promising. To return the skies over Ukraine to full control, it must be dominated by the Russian fifth-generation Su-57 fighters, their light cousins Su-75 and stealth bombers, manned and unmanned.

Information

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Vladimir Tuzakov

+1

15 November 2023 11: 52

The main criterion, practical application, for “flying wing” bombers is only theoretically justified at the modern level. Radar and other types of reconnaissance and warning are developing, therefore the emphasis of the “flying wing” on stealth with its other negative properties - slowness, poor maneuverability, high cost - loses its foundations, and therefore becomes a dead-end direction. In the USA they understand this, therefore the invested costs are taken to the level of propaganda and calls for imitation to a dead-end path. It’s not for nothing that only 2% of the total planned number of B-15s was completed. The B-21 only takes a bomb load, as much as 2 conventional universal fighter aircraft, what is the point of building an expensive new product. For the USA, long-distance flights across the ocean of many thousand kilometers are needed, for the Russian Federation this is not necessary, which means everything is of the “flying wing” type, which is why the slow and expensive “Okhotnik” is a dead end and will not be in demand (perhaps that is why it is not mass-produced )...
Paul3390

0

15 November 2023 12: 03

bombers that are barely noticeable on radar have once again become extremely relevant and in demand

Yeah.. But the loss of one such piece of hardware worth a billion or more is tantamount to a lost battle on earth.. But that’s all right.
Flight

0

15 November 2023 12: 21

Why the “flying wing” design for bombers is back in favor

Maybe because it flies? And who needs a wing that doesn't fly? Except for those who claim that it flies.
Sergey Latyshev

0

15 November 2023 12: 52

if you read the last sentence

To regain full control of the sky over Ukraine, it must be dominated by Russian fifth-generation fighters Su-57, their light cousins Su-75 and stealth bombers, manned and unmanned.

- of all of the above, there are only rare Su-57s (working from afar, without poking their nose into Ukraine) - it turns out that the author plans to continue the SVO for decades.
JD1979

-1

16 November 2023 13: 35

To return the skies of Ukraine under control... you cannot return what you did not own. That's right, correction. To take control of it, you don’t need a Su-57 or a Su-75, they won’t help anyway. What we have would be enough. The world and wars are also ruled by information. Which should be relevant, as they say in advertising, 24/7. And this relevance should have been ensured by UAVs and A-50s, but the former were never there, and the latter... it looks like only 1 remained in working order.
DO

0

17 November 2023 00: 58

Stealth bombers are clearly visible to large ground-based radars operating in the meter range. After all, the American stealth F-117 was shot down on March 27, 1999 in Yugoslavia.
Another thing is that stealth is less noticeable in the decimeter wavelength range, and especially in the centimeter wavelength range, which is where the onboard radars of fighters, missiles and ships operate.
Stealth aircraft are designed to fly at subsonic speeds - not because they cannot be designed for supersonic speeds, but because of the need to reduce the Doppler effect (frequency shift of the reflected signal), which helps the radar detect the aircraft.
Therefore, stealth systems are effective primarily against naval targets, and to a much lesser extent against enemy fighters, due to the low speed and poor maneuverability of stealth systems.
It is unclear why the S-70 is still not in mass production, given the ongoing escalation around Russia.
“Messenger” most likely has a niche for using heavy missiles also against naval targets. Therefore, it is advisable to continue working on it.
1. Hippo31
  
  0
  
  29 December 2023 19: 22
  
  At what altitude was it shot down?
  
  Therefore, stealth systems are effective primarily against naval targets, and to a much lesser extent against enemy fighters, due to the low speed and poor maneuverability of stealth systems.
  
  He won't maneuver. It will detect an approach at a long distance due to a more advanced on-board radar after detecting the target by long-range radio reconnaissance and fire a couple of missiles, after which it will turn it off. If they can work like anti-missiles, then the fighter is unlikely to escape. Still, the weight is a couple of orders of magnitude more. Again, there is simply no luminosity in the IR range on a head-on course, and neither does radar.
  The problem is the same as in WWII. Very clear interaction between various services and branches of the military and a very short period from detection to shooting. This doesn't just apply to airplanes.
  Striped cats really don’t like to throw money away.
Kiril

0

19 November 2023 19: 10

The Yankees need money, they need to pump it somewhere, so they build such nonsense
Hippo31

0

29 December 2023 18: 32

The states do not need long-range bomb carriers, because there are bases all over the world. Only the ferry range is important, which is decided by refueling.
Stealth has a lot of limitations.
1. Subsonic speed and engines without afterburner, otherwise strong IR radiation.
2. Radio silence, because The device takes bearings along it.
3. A flying wing without fins reduces visibility, but at the same time increases drag at transonic speeds due to the thick profile at the root.
4. Large wing area due to the lack of mechanization, because The flaps on the wing act as an elevator. Because of this, the takeoff and landing characteristics are mediocre.
5. Poor maneuverability.
At the same time, the low reflectivity makes the device invisible at high altitudes. Therefore, it is quite capable of unexpectedly dropping a guided bomb. If detected at high altitudes, the fact of launch is easily detected and the anti-missile destroys the target quite reliably. They are light enough and do not need a large engine to gain altitude. The ammunition load is sufficient to carry you off your feet.