Kusch Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 The first newly upgraded operational B1-B Lancer taxis in prior to a crew swap Jan. 21, 2014, at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The B-1B Lancer was recently upgraded with a new Integrated Battle Station. The IBS is a combination of three different upgrades, which include a Fully Integrated Data Link, a Vertical Situation Display upgrade, and a Central Integrated System upgrade. The upgrade will assist flight and ground support personnel to identify and troubleshoot B-1 system anomalies. Give me "flying telephone pole" (SA-2)!
Faith Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 That's really cool but the upgrade seems pointless since they might get rid of the entire B-1 fleet soon. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
4c Hajduk Veljko Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 What is a B-1 mission now? Although, I would not retire the all B-1B's. I would keep up to 10 airplanes. And would not fly them much either, instead use simulators for training. Talking about money, we just cut unemployment benefits to hundreds of thousands of workers. I can not see us paying for expensive military programs and cutting unemployment benefits. Thermaltake Kandalf LCS | Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R | Etasis ET750 (850W Max) | i7-920 OC to 4.0 GHz | Gigabyte HD5850 | OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 2000 | 2 X 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD in RAID 0 | ASUS VW266H 25.5" | LG Blue Ray 10X burner | TIR 5 | Saitek X-52 Pro | Logitech G930 | Saitek Pro flight rudder pedals | Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
JB3DG Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 That's really cool but the upgrade seems pointless since they might get rid of the entire B-1 fleet soon. I thought they still have at least 6-7 years left?
Vekkinho Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 And would not fly them much either, instead use simulators for training. Keeping a plane in a hangar is like keeping a car in a garage...Expensive. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
Fjordmonkey Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 What is a B-1 mission now? Anything from close airsupport to strategic bombing-missions. Although, I would not retire the all B-1B's. I would keep up to 10 airplanes. And would not fly them much either, instead use simulators for training. Yes, of course, let's just have the aircraft sitting on the ground until they're so broken that they can't be flown. Because this WILL happen, despite steady and constant maintenance. You'll have to deal with gaskets and valves getting stuck, electronic components breaking, contaminated fluids through condensation etc. Yep, good use of an aircraft.... Regards Fjordmonkey Clustermunitions is just another way of saying that you don't like someone. I used to like people, then people ruined that for me.
Revan Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 The B-1's always break, they have to take 3 of them anywhere they deply one because: one always gets scrapped for spare parts one always breaks in a way that it cannot be fixed easily Just retire them and refit the B-52 fleet again DCS: F-4E really needs to be a thing!!!!!! Aircraft: A-10C, Ka-50, UH-1H, MiG-21, F-15C, Su-27, MiG-29, A-10A, Su-25, Su-25T, TF-51
PFunk1606688187 Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 Close Air Support in a strategic bomber? Oh USAF, you so crazeh! Warning: Nothing I say is automatically correct, even if I think it is.
Pilotasso Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 after the number of planes drops from a certain number it becomes more expensive to operate them as maintenance costs sky rocket. .
OutOnTheOP Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 Close Air Support in a strategic bomber? Oh USAF, you so crazeh! Why not? Close Air Support doesn't mean the CAS aircraft has to fly 500 feet directly over allied forces; it means aircraft delivering munitions onto enemy forces in contact with friendly forces (and contact doesn't even have to mean they're actively shooting at each other!). The B-1B works just fine for a dash-in-from-the-IP-and-lay-in-a-half-dozen-JDAMS-on-vital-points CAS mission. My BN used one in Iraq for preplan CAS and preparatory fires; it was awesome.
ENO Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Talking about money, we just cut unemployment benefits to hundreds of thousands of workers. I can not see us paying for expensive military programs and cutting unemployment benefits. Cut the programs and you create tens of thousand more unemployed people in the country... Take your pick. "ENO" Type in anger and you will make the greatest post you will ever regret. "Sweetest's" Military Aviation Art
Vekkinho Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Hajduk, there are differences in lifetime of certain products. As you can see MiG-21 outlived his grandson MiG-29... VW Golf Mk1 (produced in 1974) easily outlives nowadays Golf Mk7 that's produced in larger numbers but in 40 years there'll be less mk7 on the roads than there are Mk1 today. So the question is is a B-1B a platform worth maintaining... [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
Suchacz Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 I like this possible future B-1R "missile truck" scenario... Per aspera ad astra! Crucial reading about DCS: Black Shark - Black Shark and Coaxial Rotor Aerodynamics, Black Shark and the Trimmer, Black Shark – Autopilot: Part 1, Black Shark – Autopilot: Part 2
4c Hajduk Veljko Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Yes, of course, let's just have the aircraft sitting on the ground until they're so broken that they can't be flown. Because this WILL happen, despite steady and constant maintenance. You'll have to deal with gaskets and valves getting stuck, electronic components breaking, contaminated fluids through condensation etc. Yep, good use of an aircraft.... I've never said that we should STOP flying them. I said that the flying should be reduced on remaining airplanes to prolong their life. Thermaltake Kandalf LCS | Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R | Etasis ET750 (850W Max) | i7-920 OC to 4.0 GHz | Gigabyte HD5850 | OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 2000 | 2 X 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD in RAID 0 | ASUS VW266H 25.5" | LG Blue Ray 10X burner | TIR 5 | Saitek X-52 Pro | Logitech G930 | Saitek Pro flight rudder pedals | Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
4c Hajduk Veljko Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) after the number of planes drops from a certain number it becomes more expensive to operate them as maintenance costs sky rocket.It probably is more expensive per unit. But the overall cost certainly, goes down. Edited January 31, 2014 by =4c= Hajduk Veljko Thermaltake Kandalf LCS | Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R | Etasis ET750 (850W Max) | i7-920 OC to 4.0 GHz | Gigabyte HD5850 | OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 2000 | 2 X 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD in RAID 0 | ASUS VW266H 25.5" | LG Blue Ray 10X burner | TIR 5 | Saitek X-52 Pro | Logitech G930 | Saitek Pro flight rudder pedals | Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
4c Hajduk Veljko Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Cut the programs and you create tens of thousand more unemployed people in the country... Take your pick.Where does the money to support these exotic programs comes from? Well, there is no money, we print money. Thus, between printing money and living within your means ... Take your pick. Thermaltake Kandalf LCS | Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R | Etasis ET750 (850W Max) | i7-920 OC to 4.0 GHz | Gigabyte HD5850 | OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 2000 | 2 X 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD in RAID 0 | ASUS VW266H 25.5" | LG Blue Ray 10X burner | TIR 5 | Saitek X-52 Pro | Logitech G930 | Saitek Pro flight rudder pedals | Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
4c Hajduk Veljko Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 So the question is is a B-1B a platform worth maintaining...I think it is well worth maintaining a small number of B-1B's. For many reasons, engineering, military, strategic, you name it. But, it has to be within our budget of what we can afford. We must not print money to pay military. Printing money is one of the major reasons of why Soviet Union collapsed. And Yugoslavia, as well. Thermaltake Kandalf LCS | Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R | Etasis ET750 (850W Max) | i7-920 OC to 4.0 GHz | Gigabyte HD5850 | OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 2000 | 2 X 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD in RAID 0 | ASUS VW266H 25.5" | LG Blue Ray 10X burner | TIR 5 | Saitek X-52 Pro | Logitech G930 | Saitek Pro flight rudder pedals | Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Faith Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 I thought they still have at least 6-7 years left? I think it's safe to say that when a procurement program takes 15+ years, 6-7 or less is considered soon. The Air Force is seriously thinking of retiring the B-1 along with the A-10 and F-15 fleets as soon as possible to continue funding other programs. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
Kusch Posted October 2, 2014 Author Posted October 2, 2014 An U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker over northern Iraq after striking ISIL targets in Syria, Sept. 27, 2014. The strikes were conducted as part of the president's comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Bruch) 1 Give me "flying telephone pole" (SA-2)!
deephack Posted October 3, 2014 Posted October 3, 2014 Is no-one going to mention that IBS is already an acronym and means something totally different? Or am I just 5 years old still ;-) https://www.youtube.com/user/deephack
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