"B-2 Pilot’s Lessons For LRSB, America’s New Bomber " Topic

"The Air Force very quietly released a Request for Proposal (RFP) this summer for the new Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B). With a purported fly away cost of $550 USD million per aircraft — but with estimates up to $810 USD million — the LRS-B will be one of the largest acquisition programs in history with broad strategic implications to the end of this century. Although I am not privy to the RFP, as a career stealth bomber pilot I believe the B-2 program can provide important lessons for this new program. Stealth technology is unique in many ways. We should learn from past struggles as we start at the ground floor of this new platform.

What should we do?…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

Lots of good points there, but I will bet dinner at a nice restaurant that the Procurement folks don't follow them!

I honestly expect the LRSB to look like little more than a retreaded B2. It's not supposed to be supersonic, so there's no demand for a B1-like airframe. I'd love to see the "Dreamland" B-1 mods of a V-tail and new engine pods.

The biggest change I'd want to see is space for more crew (not that the bird would need a crew of 4 or 6 to deliver bombs, but that seats could be added for ISR or other specialty missions), as well as reasonably-thought-out crew resting space.

Not supersonic?

Seems a bit daft ffor a new, futuristic bomber replacement, especially in a high-threat environment.

Will it have propellers, instead of jet engines?