North American Rockwell / Boeing B-1 Lancer

FighterJock said:
Going by the size of the B-2s weapons bays then the bay on the B-21 should be the same size, Northrop would not design the B-21 with a smaller bay than the B-2 even when it is only one considering the size of the GBU-57. The USAF would not have given Northrop the contract otherwise.
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One would hope.
 
sferrin said:

US to Boost Output of Bombs Designed to Hit Underground Nuclear Facilities​


I hope the B-21 can carry one.
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Most every side by side comparison graphic I've seen of the B-2 and B-21 lists 30,000+ lbs. I have not seen any other figure for the B-21's payload. I think it safe to assume that carrying a MOP was part of the requirement.

www.airandspaceforces.com

B-21 Bomber Shelter May Reveal Size of Secret Jet | Air & Space Forces Magazine

An image of a prototype temporary shelter for the B-21 bomber at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., may divulge the dimensions of the aircraft.
www.airandspaceforces.com www.airandspaceforces.com
 
FighterJock said:
Going by the size of the B-2s weapons bays then the bay on the B-21 should be the same size, Northrop would not design the B-21 with a smaller bay than the B-2 even when it is only one considering the size of the GBU-57. The USAF would not have given Northrop the contract otherwise.
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In fact if anything, the B-21's bay seems slightly longer, which might be fed by the requirement to carry LRSO. There is no doubt that the bay has sufficient volume; the only question is payload. I find it hard to believe that the B-21 cannot carry 30,000lbs. If we assume LRSO is in the same size and weight class as AGM-86, that is already 25,000lbs plus the weight of the rotary. It is hard to imagine 30,000 would be difficult.
 
So the LRSO might be slightly longer than the ALCM so that the B-21s weapons bay is going to be longer than the B-2s though not by much, it will be interesting to see when all the figures for the B-21 get de-classified eventually.
 
FighterJock said:
So the LRSO might be slightly longer than the ALCM so that the B-21s weapons bay is going to be longer than the B-2s though not by much, it will be interesting to see when all the figures for the B-21 get de-classified eventually.
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I have no idea what the LRSO's dimensions will be but I believe it has a hard range requirement of meeting or exceeding the AGM-86. So I suspect it is the same weight/size class. The B-2's were never cleared to handle AGM-86 and it is not clear that their bay/rotary is long enough to accommodate such, however we do know that the B-21 is explicitly designed to carry LRSO as a fall back position to its stealth being compromised over its service life. I suspect the B-21 bay is, if anything, slightly longer, but no figures have been released. In any case, the bay is certainly long enough for GBU-57.
 
Christopher Wang said:
If that is true, can anyone provide citations, pictures, and documents about the B-1 Lancer carrying the AIM-54 Phoenix?

I assume that the AIM-54 Phoenix carried by the B-1 Lancer would have featured folding fins for internal carriage similar to the AIM-47B Falcon proposed for the Lockheed F-12B?
AIM-47AB-1S.jpg

SOURCE: O'Connor, S. (2011, June). Arming America's Interceptors: The Hughes Falcon Missile Family. Air Power Australia. Retrieved from https://www.ausairpower.net/Falcon-Evolution.html
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From Don Logan & Jay Miller - Aerofax - Minigraph 24 B-1A-B
Several early B-1 studies have recently come to light, though little has been revealed concerning them. B-1C, B-1D, and B-1E designators have apparently been applied to some of these, though only the B-1E has been defined. The B-1E was optimized for use by the Navy, and was essentially an escort configuration capable of carrying a very large number of Hughes AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles.
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The B-1E was optimized for use by the Navy, and was essentially an escort configuration capable of carrying a very large number of Hughes AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles.
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Dale Brown eat your heart out!

I'm guessing 24x Phoenix internally, plus however many more they could hang on the external pylons.
 
There isn't enough Coolenol in the known universe. (Unless you're talking AIM-54Cs which were sealed.)
 

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