Article

2021-02-18 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by 3dc 2021-02-18 06:09|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top
File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,

#1 ...There's an interesting factor at work here that has so far escaped most people's notice: the B-1 is an extraordinarily difficult aircraft to keep flying.

Only 100 were built, but to a surprising extent they weren't what you'd think of as 'production' aircraft - each one was almost as hand-built as a McLaren supercar, and each one has unique fit and access issues. Add to that the fact that the USAF never bought spares in anything like the amounts needed (remember, B-1 was only supposed to hold on until we got the 135 B-2s....of which we only built 21)and you end up with a superb airframe hobbled by maintenance and spares issues. The decom might not be as much about the B-21 coming on line (which won't be until at LEAST 2026) as acknowledgement that they simply can't keep the B-1s in service at current numbers.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2021-02-18 06:24|| 2021-02-18 06:24|| Front Page Top

#2 Sounds like they're retiring them before the replacements are available. Good thinking, guys.

Posted by Mercutio 2021-02-18 07:21|| 2021-02-18 07:21|| Front Page Top

#3 Mercutio,

It gets worse - USAF is starting to pull the KC-10 out of the inventory as the KC-135 starts to reach 'too old' status and the misbegotten KC-45 still isn't mission capable.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2021-02-18 07:37|| 2021-02-18 07:37|| Front Page Top

#4 /\ But, but, but the new SECDEF's #1 priority is......

Posted by Besoeker 2021-02-18 07:39|| 2021-02-18 07:39|| Front Page Top

#5 I went to a Thunderbirds airshow many moons ago and saw a B-1 with it's bomb bay doors open. I recall being surprised at what I thought was its small size until my buddy pointed out it was designed to carry things that are measured in megatons not tons. I need to have the obvious pointed out occasionally.

Posted by One Eyed Tsar 2021-02-18 08:18|| 2021-02-18 08:18|| Front Page Top

#6 Not surprising. The B-1 was designed to fly most times with its wings swept back. After flying nearly a decade in Afghanistan with its wings out so it can do close air support, the metal fatigue has been a hell of a lot more than the designers planned for.

Their wings are literally about to fall off.

Posted by DarthVader 2021-02-18 13:58|| 2021-02-18 13:58|| Front Page Top

#7 It's said we couldn't build the Hoover Dam or Golden Gate Bridge anymore, and I guess it's just as well we aren't even trying to...

Posted by M. Murcek 2021-02-18 17:31|| 2021-02-18 17:31|| Front Page Top