falcon09 said:
74OA said:
The divider between the two forward bomb-bays can be moved to create a longer bay: HUGE MORE
The "movable" bulkheads were welded in place in the mid 90's and I highly doubt there are still any of the short fuel tanks or longer rotary launchers that are still usable.
The "hypersonic" photo-op was on an Edwards test jet, so who knows what they've done to that jet. The Guam article has JASSM in the bay. Standard size bay configurations.
The Bone is a completely different aircraft than it was 25 years ago. Many of the engineering and tech features that made it so amazing in the early 90's are no longer around. I doubt the early guys could have imagined accurately hitting a vehicle driving down the freeway with a 500 lb bomb. Both very cool aircraft, but completely different.
The B-1 has been modernized with a glass cockpit and Digital Engine controllers over the last 25 years. The rotary launchers that have come on line opened the aperture on the types of weapons that can be carried. Also, the Sniper Pod is fully integrated into the jet, which allows Full Motion Video feed and easy target acquisition when paired with the radar, which itself has been upgraded significantly. Finally, the defensive avionics were upgraded to allow better threat mitigation.
While the B-1 is still an early 80s aircraft design, it has not not gotten any less sophisticated or capable.
Wear and tear on the airplane over 18 years of constant military deployment is what is driving it's early retirement