The Story and Description of the Rockwell International B-1 Bomber

The B-1 bomber has direct links to some of the greatest accomplishments in the aviation industry. Consequently, this aircrafts interesting development and career has held a unique spot within aeronautics. Its highly argued about where the B-1 starts due to alternatives proposed and forgone. Early on the B-1 would be considered the best vehicle to replace the B-52, whose production had been halted in 1962. The B-1 starts in 1955 with an initial requirement, known as GOR 82, to design a Chemically-powered, strategic bombardment reconnaissance weapon system 110A/L.(book) Boeing and North American Aviation were to conduct the initial studies. What eventually evolved from GOR82 was the giant delta-wing (named because of the shape of the wings) XB-70 Bomber. (Right)

North America was selected in 1957 to produce the advanced new system and seven years later they reached the first flight. Of course a project always comes with naysayers, they argued that strategic deterrence they were interested in achieving could be accomplished with munitions they already have, intercontinental ballistic missiles and/or air launched missiles. And the fact is that the C-5 cargo-transport could carry the same payload of long range missiles to fulfill the strategic need, they sought progression. Eventually, the B-70 lost momentum and was thrown out. The argument that the B-70 was capable of more than what was thought lasted well into the 1980s. Many other ideas for bomber aircraft were kicked around the 1960s. Radars weakest detection is near the ground. The fact that the Soviets grounded a high altitude U.S. spy plane, the U2(next page),

made the aircraft designers of the U.S. conclude that they needed to essentially design a plane that had low altitude capabilities and able to reach high speeds in this mode.

The two major studies in 1963, the AMP (Advanced Man Penetrator) and the AMPSS (Advanced Man Penetrating Strategic Systems) provided the way for the B-1. AMP called for a first-round design to meet four criteria: (1) all-subsonic, low altitude (2) subsonic low-altitude with a high-altitude, high supersonic capability (3) subsonic low-altitude with a high altitude, high supersonic capability (4) vertical/short take off and landing. The AMPSS honed in and optimized the subsonic low-altitude aircraft with a high-altitude supersonic capability. In 1965 the studies ended and later that year the well known AMSA (Advanced Man Strategic Aircraft) studies emerged. This studys goal was to focus on propulsion, alternate armament loading, reliability, titanium cost and maintainability.

It progressed quickly and the Air Force in 1967 wanted to submit a request to look for contractors. Being the direct predecessor to the B-1, the AMSA led the Air Force to submit the request in 1969. Seven months later Rockwell was to build the B-1 and GEs F101 engine was chosen as the powerhouse. In October of 1971 the Rockwell was well on track by making the first full-scale B-1 bomber and in that same year it was approved. The first B-1 was called the B-1A.

With the archetype flying by 1974, it was by 1977 Rockwell planned to have 241 bombers off the line. But, in 1977 the program faced a major issue. It was cancelled. The B-1 faced scrutiny through arguments which were raised and attested that the B-1 was, in fact, useless because the B-52 could carry out missions which were specifically targeted by the B-1s engineers. During this time 4 prototypes were still tested. These prototypes were important because they were used to provide information that supported the idea that the B-1 was better than the B-52 in certain situations. After all the debates and justifications were through, the B-1 made a comeback. The B-1A played an important part and provided a sort of blueprint for a new B-1, the B-1B. Though the B-1A provided a general outline this didnt mean it was a replica, in fact the B-1 brought many new innovations to the table. The biggest difference between the aircraft would be the weight. The B-1B had a max weight of about 217,000kg; a lot of the weight was because the plane had a higher fuel and payload capacity than the B-1A.

One of the noticeable aspects was the design that featured a blended wing and body. It has a swingwing design which provides means for high aerodynamic and structural efficiency. Not to be unnoticed in todays military the configuration led to the design of the infamous F-16 Fighting Falcon. The F-16 has a major presence in the U.S. air force with fleet of over 1,200. The wings spanned 41.67m in the forward position and

23.84m when the aircraft morphed into its supersonic position. As you can see in the diagram the wings werent perfectly straight when forward they were still slightly swept back. The B-1 has an airfoil which was an exclusive design that was specifically made for the B-1. This special design enabled it to be nearly perfectly efficient in a wide variety of conditions during takeoff and landing, subsonic cruise at high lift, low-altitude penetration at low lift levels, and supersonic penetration at moderate lift.

With projected continual performances reaching Mach 2, the aerodynamic design became a priority. The temperature the B-1B would reach floated around 421K. Because of the temperature the engineers considered using titanium (around 40 percent) in the structure. The metallic requirements were reduced due to the inability to detect and identify targets at high speeds so close to the ground. With the adjustments it allowed the engineers to use more aluminum which were for a variety of different reasons, mainly cost and ease of fabrication. The B-1 not only had a requirement request for the structure, but also its engines. The development of the engine had specific criteria: (1) unrefueled intercontinental range (2) Mach 2 performance (3) high thrust. General Electric was chosen as the builder and its F101 engine (above) was the perfect match.

The development of the engine goes back to the late 1960s and again the AMSA studies. The testing and write-off of the engine was in 1970. The original was a compact, two shafted, ducted, afterburning turbofan. The full-length bypass duct of the engine carried the reduced air pressure

around the outside of the engine core. The air then went to fuel spray bars and flame holders adjacent to the turbine exhaust stream as indicated in the figure on the next page. As you can see, the fan blows lowpressure air over the engine and as the high-pressure air is ignited the air above the engine provides a sort of suction which increases the thrust.

The engine had a 2:1 bypass ratio a 2:1 bypass ratio is when the fan of the engine drives two kilograms of air around the engine for every kilogram that passes through the engine's core. The engine produced a thrust at take off of about 75,619N and, by adding afterburners, it significantly increased to 133,446N. The ISP of an afterburning high bypass engine like the F-101-GE is represented in the chart to the right. As you can see the fuel efficiency is one of the best of to the jet propelled engines. This was used to advantage of the B-1.

In 1984 the first B1-B was produced. The

B-1Bs programs goal was to produce 100 aircraft

and equip the Strategic Air Command with 100 aircraft. This number was down from the production numbers of the B-1As which had a quota of 241. The projected cost of the budget settled at around 20.5 billion dollars, or a little over $40 billion today. The Rockwell assembly building was enormous and boasted over a million square feet of production possibilities. This was the home production site for all 100 aircraft.

The primary function of the B-1B was to be a long-range, multi-role, heavy bomber. This giant 44.5 meter long aircraft was powered by four General Electric F-101-GE-102 afterburning turbofan engines. The B-1 stood at a height of 10.4 meters and weighed in at around 86,183 kilograms. The maximum takeoff weight was 216,634 kilograms. At sea level the aircraft can travel upwards of 402m/s or Mach 1.2 and has a service ceiling of more than 9,144 meters. All the while, the B-1B can harbor a crew of four, aircraft commander, copilot, offensive systems officer and defensive systems officer while completing these tasks. Just like other bombers, the B-1B, simply put, was just a mounting platform for various weapons. It was considered such an asset due to its versatile system which carried a variety of weapons. Included within that variety were conventional and nuclear bombs, and short range attack and air-launched cruise missiles. This aircraft shows it versatility by being apt to be used in long-range sea surveillance, anti-submarine patrol, and aerial mine-laying activities. The B-1 has received much attention in aviation considering the records the aircraft has broken. With 59 world records for speed, payload, distance and time-to-climb the B-1 made its mark in aeronautics. The following chart from the United States Air Force shows the impact the B-1 had on the industry:

10,000ft 1 minute 59 seconds Time-to-Climb Records for the C-1Q Weight 20,000ft 2 minutes 39 seconds 30,000ft 3 minutes 47 seconds Category, Over 330,000lb at Altitudes 40,000ft 9 minutes 42 seconds 10,000ft 1 minute 13 seconds Time-to-Climb Records for the C-1Q Weight 20,000ft 1 minute 42 seconds Category, 170,000lb to 220,000lb at 30,000ft 2 minutes 11 seconds Altitudes 40,000ft 5 minutes 1 second

10,000ft 1 minute 19 seconds Time-to-Climb Records for the C-1Q Weight 20,000ft 1 minute 55 seconds Category, 220,000lb to 330,000lb at 30,000ft 2 minutes 23 seconds Altitudes 40,000ft 6 minutes 9 seconds

The production rate was approximately one aircraft per month at $200-million dollars plus. By the time the 23rd aircraft was produced that rate had risen to one per week. After production improvements were being designed and incorporated into elder versions of the B1-B. But, since the B-1 had significant time in the air it made way for avionic watchdogs of the government to seek and point out issues the B-1 had. They claimed that the B-1 was capable of accomplishing only a few of its intended missions against the Soviet air defenses and the cost estimates to fix the problems were astronomical. Now, as it stands, there will be no more B-1Bs produced. But, theres good news for the future, the B-2.

The acquisition of the B-2, in concert with the B1-B, ensures the Air Forces ability to provide strategic deterrence into the 21st century. As it stands, the B-1Bs fleet consists of an active force of 51 aircraft, primary mission aircraft inventory of 72, 2 test vehicles; the Air National Guard has 18 primary mission aircraft inventory (20 actual) and zero on reserve. The future doesnt look good for the B-1B, but the fact that it has been such an integral part to the aeronautics industry, and that the trail it blazed nearly forty-years ago will have an ever-present effect which will never be forgotten.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bypass_ratio (BYPASS ILLISTRATION)

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=81 (U.S. Air Force)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_Impulse (ISP Illustration)

http://www.geae.com/engines/military/f101/index.html (PICTURE OF GE-F101)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2 (PICTURE of U-2 SPY PLANE)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B1B (WING ILLUSTRATION)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B1_bomber (REFERENCE)

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blB_1B_Lancer.htm (REFERENCE)

The Illustrated Guide to Aerodynamics, H.C. Skip Smith; TAB Books: New York; 1992 -Used for Reference The B-1 Bomber, William G. Holder; TAB Books: Blue Ridge Summit, PA; 1988 -Used for Reference