Aircraft of the Year

Rockwell
This view highlights the
broad centrebody of the
B-1B, which allows the
aircraft to carry a huge

B-1B Lancer
bombload. The slender
wings pivot back to
give unparalleled low-
level performance for an
aircraft of such size.

US swing-wing
superbomber
Designed in the 1960s to replace the B-52, the
Rockwell (now Boeing) B-1 eventually saw
action for the first time in 1998 as a conventional
bomber. When the US turned its attentions to
Afghanistan in 2001, it had become the main
means of providing precision-guided attack.

C
ontroversy had sur-
rounded the B-1
throughout its formative
years. It had been cancelled
and resurrected twice, and had
taken more than 20 years to
reach service. Even then it could
only perform nuclear missions,
and was overlooked for duty in
the 1991 Desert Storm opera-
tion. Ten years later, it came of
age during the 2001 Operation
Enduring Freedom in Afghani-
stan, where its ability to loiter
for hours with a heavy load of
GPS-guided bombs made it a
perfect vehicle for a new style of
warfare.
The story of the B-1 reaches
back into the late 1950s, when
Strategic Air Command began
its search for a successor to the
B-52. Initially this was to be the
North American XB-70 Valky-
rie, but the advent of surface- The B-1A was to be a strategic bomber with Mach 2 capability at high
to-air missiles had killed off the altitude. Only four were built before the programme was cancelled in 1977
idea of a high-altitude bomber. at a time when its survivability was being questioned.
Instead attentions focussed
on low-level operations, al- Advanced Manned Strategic 1 at low level. Although studies
though the ability to operate at Aircraft requirement envisaged were conducted by several com-
high speed and high altitude an aircraft capable of Mach 2 at panies, funding for full devel-
was not forgotten. The 1963 high altitude, and around Mach opment was vetoed in 1968.

In the Cold War era the B-1B was

tested for external carriage of cruise
missiles. Much later, it gained an
external store in the form of the
Sniper XR targeting pod carried
under the forward fuselage.

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