Page 1 - Aerotech News and Review, December 4, 2020

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Global Power Bomber CTF conducts

B-1B external captive carry demonstration

Air Force photograph by Ethan Wagner
A B-1B Lancer with a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) flies in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Nov. 20, 2020. The flight was a demonstration of the B-1B’s external
weapons carriage capabilities.

by Giancarlo Casem sibly for the B-1B to carry hypersonic weapons The captive carry flight was the culmination hard point, so we are demonstrating that the B-1
Edwards AFB, Calif. externally. of the numerous ground tests that began with last has the capability to carry weapons and employ
“Adapting a small number of our healthi- year’s expanded carriage demonstration that in- them externally.”
The B-1B Lancer’s expanded carriage capabili- est B-1s to carry hypersonic weapons is vital to cluded a modified internal bomb bay, which fea- This extensive engineering review will help the
ties comes one step closer to fruition following bridge between the bomber force we have today, tured a moveable bulkhead. The demonstration Air Force understand areas where it needs to focus
an external captive carry flight over the skies of to the force of tomorrow,” said Gen. Tim Ray, showcased a configuration of the B-1 that would on to maintain the B-1B as a multi-mission weap-
Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Nov. 20. 2020. Air Force Global Strike Command commander. allow the aircraft to carry larger-sized weapons on system, potentially laying the groundwork for
The flight featured a B -1B Lancer assigned to “This is a major step forward in our global preci- both internally and externally. integration of future weapons on the aircraft.
the 412th Test Wing’s 419th Flight Test Squad- sion fires capability and it is important we pursue “We’re essentially displaying our external The B-1B was initially designed to incorpo-
ron, Global Power Combined Test Force, and car- these technologies to remain ahead of our com- weapons carriage capability,” said Maj. Bret Cun- rate a moveable bulkhead and usable external hard
ried an inert Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile petitors. My goal is to have a limited number of ningham, a B-1B test pilot with the 419th FLTS. points for its original nuclear mission, however
under an external pylon for the first time. B-1s modified to become the roving linebacker of “We have a JASSM weapon on what is tradition- the U.S. shifted the Lancer’s mission to conven-
This demonstration may pave the way pos- the western Pacific and the North Atlantic. ally the targeting pod pylon on the forward right See BOMBER, Page 2

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