Pentagon Eyes 'Economical' New Bomber | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.29.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.23.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.24.24 Airborne-FltTraining-04.25.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.26.24

Wed, Feb 15, 2012

Pentagon Eyes 'Economical' New Bomber

AF CoS Gen. Norman Schwartz Said Design Should Not Be 'Extravagant'

As the Air Force looks for its next bomber aircraft, the design should not be "extravagant," and the aircraft should be affordable. Those parameters were laid out in a speech by Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz last week.

General Schwartz said it was more important that the airplane be able to be built in significant numbers and ready for delivery in the mid 2020s. He said it was also important to avoid the experience the Air Force had when it was building the B-2. That program was cut from 131 to just 21 aircraft following the end of the cold war and high development and operational costs. Each B-2 cost in the neighborhood of $2 billion.

Reuters reports that the major players are all lining up for a shot at the next Air Force bomber. Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin are all looking at the possibility of competing for the business.

Schwartz said the important thing is not to "over-design" the new airplane, but said the aircraft could be improved over time. "We are not intent on delivering a capability that is extravagant, that is excess to our absolute needs," he said.

Analysts think the Air Force will eventually order 200 of the new airplanes at a cost somewhere around $550 million each. But defense cuts have others wondering if those numbers aren't somewhat ambitious. The rough time frame would have a design selected and annual delivery schedule set sometime after 2018.

FMI: www.af.mil

Advertisement

More News

Unfortunate... ANN/SportPlane Resource Guide Adds To Cautionary Advisories

The Industry Continues to be Rocked By Some Questionable Operations Recent investigations and a great deal of data has resulted in ANN’s SportPlane Resource Guide’s rep>[...]

ANN FAQ: Turn On Post Notifications

Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.29.24): Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI)

Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) An airport lighting facility providing vertical visual approach slope guidance to aircraft during approach to landing by radiating a directio>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.28.24): Airport Marking Aids

Airport Marking Aids Markings used on runway and taxiway surfaces to identify a specific runway, a runway threshold, a centerline, a hold line, etc. A runway should be marked in ac>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.28.24)

Aero Linx: The Skyhawk Association The Skyhawk Association is a non-profit organization founded by former Skyhawk Pilots which is open to anyone with an affinity for the A-4 Skyhaw>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC