US Airforce B-1R

[SUBMAN1]

I was not aware of this aircraft, but the B-1 may get an extended lease on life it may seem.

Boeing page on the B-1R:
http://www.boeing.com/ids/allsystems...2/story01.html

A short video I pulled on how it would be deployed in combat in the air to air role (this is how I first heard of it in the first place):
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v9988640b476AWQQ

So has anyone else heard of this new role for the B-1 program? I must be living in the dark ages since I never even knew this idea existed.

-S

B-1R

The B-1R is a proposed replacement for the B-1B fleet.[32] Boeing's director of global strike integration, Rich Parke, was first quoted about the "B-1R" bomber in Air Force Magazine.[33] Parke said the B-1R (R stands for "regional") would be a Lancer with advanced radars, air-to-air missiles, and Pratt & Whitney F119 engines (originally developed for the F-22 Raptor).[33] Its new top speed of Mach 2.2 would be purchased at the price of a 20% reduction of the B-1B's combat range. This proposal would involve modifying existing aircraft. The FB-22 and YF-23-based design are alternative proposals.


Boeing's proposal appears to modify the B-1B into a design able to serve these two purposes. For the bomb-truck role Boeing proposes the modification of existing external hardpoints to allow them to carry multiple conventional warheads, dramatically improving overall warload. For the air-to-air role, both defensive and offensive, they propose to add active electronically-scanned array radar and allow some of the hardpoints to carry anti-aircraft missiles. Even with its somewhat reduced range as compared to the original B-1B, its fuel capacity remains quite large. This would allow it to escape from unfavorable air-to-air encounters by simply running away; there are few enough aircraft capable of Mach 2+ performance in general, and those that are deployed can maintain these speeds for only very short periods of time.[32]


In general terms the B-1R most closely resembles the original F-111 concept, as opposed to a pure bomber role. However it would be able to carry out these missions at ranges even greater than the F-111.