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Air Force Study Recommends Waiting to Obtain New Strategic Bomber
A new U.S. Air Force study recommends delaying efforts to acquire a new long-range bomber for about a decade, Defense Daily reported today (see GSN, Oct. 8). In a speech earlier this month at the Heritage Foundation, Col. Gary Crowder, Air Combat Command chief of strategy and doctrine, outlined the findings of the Future Force Structure Flight Plan. According to the study, technology is not yet mature enough to begin work on a significantly more advanced bomber, Defense Daily reported. “By 2012 or 2014, when the technology is available, we can start the development of a follow-on bomber when we have a better understanding of what that aircraft will look like,” Crowder said. The Air Force is still considering whether a new bomber will be piloted or not, according to Crowder. He said that as technology improves, the service would have more options. For example, if the Air Force decided to obtain a new bomber now, it would only be able to purchase a slightly more advanced B-2 bomber, Crowder said. In 10 years, however, the Air Force could purchase an advanced delta-wing or blended-wing bomber, and in 20 years the service could possibly purchase a hypersonic bomber. Under the current Air Force investment plan, a new bomber could be fielded between 2025 and 2030, Crowder said. “If we need to accelerate that program, we can do it,” he said (Sharon Weinberger, Defense Daily, Oct. 28).
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