Made in May of 1987, NEW STRENGTH FOR AMERICAN DEFENSE shows the then-brand-new B-1B Lancer bomber being put through its paces by Air Force crews. At 3:11, SAC’s first B-1B main operating base is shown at Dyess, Texas, and the Ellsworth Air Force Base is also shown. McConnell AFB in Kansas and Grand Forks Air Force Base are also mentioned as part of the deployment of 100 B-1Bs. At 4:00, President Ronald Reagan is seen announcing the contracts for the B-1B, and the manpower build-up to construct the bombers is shown. (Up to this point the B-1B had been put on hiatus by the Carter Administration and was threatened with cancellation). At 4:40, the groundbreaking events at the Palmdale plant are seen, including rollout in Sept. 1984, with the first flight seen in October 1984. At 5:00, Reagan is seen at Palmdale congratulating the Rockwell team on the delivery of the first bomber for testing. The B-1B came in on time and in budget, according to the film. At 5:50, B-1B test pilot Lt. Col. Frank Birk is seen, and he and Col. Alan Rogers discuss the plane’s impressive performance.
The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force (USAF). It is commonly called the “Bone” (originally from “B-One”). It is one of three strategic bombers in the USAF fleet as of 2017, the other two being the B-2 Spirit “Stealth Bomber”, and the B-52 Stratofortress.
The B-1 was first envisioned in the 1960s as a platform that would combine the Mach 2 speed of the B-58 Hustler with the range and payload of the B-52, ultimately replacing both. After a long series of studies, Rockwell International (now part of Boeing) won the design contest for what emerged as the B-1A. This version had a top speed of Mach 2.2 at high altitude and the capability of flying for long distances at Mach 0.85 at very low altitudes. The combination of the high cost of the aircraft, the introduction of the AGM-86 ALCM cruise missile that flew the same basic profile, and early work on the stealth bomber all significantly impacted the need for the B-1. This led to the program being cancelled in 1977, after the B-1A prototypes had been built.
The program was restarted in 1981, largely as an interim measure while the stealth bomber entered service. This led to a redesign as the B-1B, which had somewhat lower top speed at high altitude of Mach 1.25, but improved low-altitude performance of Mach 0.96. The electronics were also extensively improved during the redesign, and the airframe was improved to allow takeoff with the maximum possible fuel and weapons load. The B-1B began deliveries in 1986 and formally entered service with Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a nuclear bomber in 1986. By 1988, all 100 aircraft had been delivered.
In the early 1990s, following the Gulf War and concurrent with the disestablishment of SAC and its reassignment to the newly formed Air Combat Command (ACC), the B-1B was converted to conventional bombing use. It first served in combat during Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and again during the NATO action in Kosovo the following year. The B-1B has supported U.S. and NATO military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. The USAF had 66 B-1Bs in service as of September 2012. The B-1B is expected to continue to serve into the 2030s, with the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider to begin replacing the B-1B after 2025.
Ten B-1s have been lost due to accidents. Between 1984 and 2001, 17 crew members and people on board were killed in B-1 accidents.
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