B-21 Raider - Discussione Ufficiale

[-{-Legolas-}-]

Bella quest'affermazione, sembrerebbe dire che c'è gia qualcosa che vola, almeno un dimostratore.

 

“Unless you’re close to flying something now, you’re not going to do that.” Aviation Week reported last December that Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works was building a demonstrator prototype for the new bomber.

[TT-1 Pinto]

TACI .... il nemico ti ascolta ....

 

Former Official Describes Secret U.S. Bomber Acquisition ....

 

Contractors are working on risk-reduction contracts for the secretive and stealthy long-range strike-bomber (LRS-B) program, the former deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition disclosed.

During a panel discussion at the Air Force Association (AFA) Air and Space Conference near Washington, D.C, on September 17, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford said the contracts serve as a technology “bridge” to the future bomber following the cancellation of the Next Generation Bomber (NGB) program in 2009.

The Pentagon has instructed contractors not to discuss the LRS-B program, one of the USAF’s top three acquisition priorities.

 

Fonte .... http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ain-defense-perspective/2013-09-20/former-official-describes-secret-us-bomber-acquisition

 

Lockheed Martin produced this impression of a long-range strike (LRS) design for the U.S. Air Force in 2007, before a secrecy clampdown banned contractors from discussing the program in public. (Photo: Chris Pocock)

[TT-1 Pinto]

La "santa alleanza" ....

 

Boeing And Lockheed Martin Team On New Bomber ....

 

Boeing and Lockheed Martin announced Oct. 25 that they will team to compete on the U.S. Air Force’s Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) program, with Boeing as the prime contractor and Lockheed Martin as primary teammate.

The program is aimed at delivering 80-100 very stealthy, long-range bombers to the Air Force, with an initial operational capability in 2024-26, and with a unit cost ceiling of $550 million.

 

Fonte .... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_10_25_2013_p0-630684.xml

 

I predecessori ....

[Mustanghino]

bellissimo poster

[Don Zauker]

scusate la mia ignoranza ma veramente non sapevo che l'SR71 fosse utilizzato con compiti da Bomber

[TT-1 Pinto]

scusate la mia ignoranza ma veramente non sapevo che l'SR71 fosse utilizzato con compiti da Bomber

 

Non lo fu .... infatti .... anche se, in differenti periodi di tempo, in ambienti USAF si vagheggiò l'idea di realizzarne una versione da bombardamento (RB-12 e, successivamente alla cancellazione del B-70, B-71) .... anzi .... di quest'ultima versione circola un disegno in sezione che rappresenta l'aereo armato di quattro missili AGMS-69 SRAM ospitati nelle carenature laterali ....

 

"LOCKHEED B-71 (SR-71)" .... http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2699

 

Quanto al poster .... in esso non è affatto detto che lo SR-71 fosse un bombardiere .... ma, in qualità di assetto strategico in dotazione al SAC in supporto ai bombardieri strategici di tale comando, è stato dunque affiancato ad essi ....

[TT-1 Pinto]

Non lo fu .... infatti .... anche se, in differenti periodi di tempo, in ambienti USAF si vagheggiò l'idea di realizzarne una versione da bombardamento (RB-12 e, successivamente alla cancellazione del B-70, B-71) .... anzi .... di quest'ultima versione circola un disegno in sezione che rappresenta l'aereo armato di quattro missili AGMS-69 SRAM ospitati nelle carenature laterali ....

 

[holmes7]

Boeing And Lockheed Martin Team On New Bomber ....

 

 

 

 

La notizia e' piuttosto strana, e forse e' un modo per confondere le acque.

 

Dai rumors che circolano sembra che dal 2008, Northrop riceva fondi consistenti (black program) per poter costruire tale bombardiere.

 

Teniamo presente che questa azienda dispone gia del know how tecnico nel settore dello stealthness avendo costruito sia il B2 che l'F23.

 

Aggiungiamo poi che per la Northrop perdere questo appuntamento significherebbe la fine della sua divisione aerospaziale.

 

Che Lm monopolizzi pure la linea dei bombardieri dopo quella dei caccia mi pare francamente troppo.

[TT-1 Pinto]

I comunicati delle due aziende .... praticamente sovrapponibili ....

 

Boeing .... http://boeing.mediaroom.com/Boeing-Lockheed-Martin-Team-for-US-Air-Force-Bomber-Program

 

Lockheed Martin .... http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2013/october/1025hq-usaf-bomber-program.html

 

 

[Mustanghino]

scusate la mia ignoranza ma veramente non sapevo che l'SR71 fosse utilizzato con compiti da Bomber

leggi attentamente in alto a destra il titolo

[Don Zauker]

leggi attentamente in alto a destra il titolo

 

 

scusassero, grazie a tutti per non aver sottolineato la mia inettitudine

[fabio-22raptor]

La proposta per il B-71 non la sapevo.. Ero fermo all'YF-12A... comunque l'entrata nella competizione di Boeing-LM non deve essere vista come un pericolo per la NG. Un po' di sana competizione non guasta..

[TT-1 Pinto]

Mentre Northrop Grumman tace circa le proprie intenzioni ....

 

.... "Northrop Grumman Mum On Bomber Bid" .... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_10_25_2013_p0-630812.xml

 

 

.... Boeing e Lockheed Martin .... convolano ....

 

.... "Boeing and Lockheed partner on long-range strike bomber" .... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-and-lockheed-partner-on-long-range-strike-bomber-392187/

 

 

 

 

[-{-Legolas-}-]

Che sia il turno di Boeing-Lockheed di prendersi una fetta di torta.

[holmes7]

Che sia il turno di Boeing-Lockheed di prendersi una fetta di torta.

 

 

Come ho detto la cosa mi sembra un po strana.

 

Northrop secondo diversi rumors lavora al progetto dal 2008. E' anzi possibile che abbia gia realizzato qualche prototipo che tengono segreto in qualche base dell'Usaf.

[Agustaman]

A quanto pare c'è un SR72 che fa anche da bombardiere...

 

"After years of silence on the subject, Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works has revealed exclusively to AW&ST details of long-running plans for what it describes as an affordable hypersonic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike platform that could enter development in demonstrator form as soon as 2018. Dubbed the SR-72, the twin-engine aircraft is designed for a Mach 6 cruise, around twice the speed of its forebear, and will have the optional capability to strike targets."

 

Dovrebbe essere simile a una delle architetture in questa immagine (ma non parlano di premio a chi indovina)

 

http://www.codeonemagazine.com/images/media/2012_beyond_01V_opener_1267828237_4396.jpg

[TT-1 Pinto]

A quanto pare c'è un SR72 che fa anche da bombardiere...

 

"After years of silence on the subject, Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works has revealed exclusively to AW&ST details of long-running plans for what it describes as an affordable hypersonic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike platform that could enter development in demonstrator form as soon as 2018. Dubbed the SR-72, the twin-engine aircraft is designed for a Mach 6 cruise, around twice the speed of its forebear, and will have the optional capability to strike targets."

 

Vedasi, in merito, la discussione relativa allo SR-72 nella sezione "Altri Aerei" .... sottosezione "Drones ed Aerei Spia" ....

[TT-1 Pinto]

Dopo quello datato 25 Ottobre .... ecco un nuovo, e più ampio, articolo di Bill Sweetman sul "matrimonio" fra Boeing e Lockheed Martin ....

 

Boeing, Lockheed Martin Form New Bomber Team ....

 

Corporate maneuvering may be throwing a wrinkle into plans for the next big U.S. Air Force combat aircraft program, the Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B), as Boeing and Lockheed Martin formed a powerful team to win the $100 billion-plus program.

Left as a wallflower, Northrop Grumman has pointedly not confirmed its intention to compete, indicating unhappiness with the Pentagon's approach.

But with most aspects of the program classified, companies are generally silent about their plans.

 

Fonte .... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_11_04_2013_p22-631732.xml

Modificato 4 Novembre 2013 da TT-1 Pinto

[TT-1 Pinto]

Congresso .... datti una mossa ....

 

Long-Range Strike Atrophy ....

 

Congress must “clearly articulate” its support for the Air Force’s long-range strike bomber program if the United States is to preserve its long-range strike advantage, wrote Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.)—chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s seapower and projection forces panel—and Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah)—a former B-1 bomber pilot.

According to the opinion piece posted in The National Interest on Nov. 20, “Successfully integrating LRS-B into the Air Force inventory will be critical for deterring aggression and supporting allies in places like the Western Pacific and Middle East.”

However, the article noted the Air Force doesn’t expect to begin flight testing its new long-range strike bomber until the mid-2020s and the projected total buy of 80-to-100 LRS-Bs, “is considerably less” than the some 160 bombers in service today.

Meanwhile, the average age of the B-52 is 52; the average age of the B-1 is 28; and the average age for the B-2 is 20 years.

Modernization packages for the B-52 are expected to extend the aircraft’s service life past 2040 and modernized B-2s are expected to remain in service until 2058.

While this may somewhat bridge the capability gap, “the United States is poised to face a significant shortfall in long-range strike capabilities for the next two decades, making it all the more critical to keep this program on track,” wrote the congressmen.

 

(See also Time to Get Started from the February 2012 edition of Air Force Magazine)

 

11/22/2013

 

Fonte .... il "Daily Report" dell'AFA ....

 

Se continuano di questo passo .... il B-52 raggiungerà i 100 anni di vita ....

[TT-1 Pinto]

Entra in scena Northrop Grumman ....

 

Northrop to ‘position’ for future bomber work as LRS-B progresses ....

Northrop Grumman says it has interest in continuing to provide the US Air Force with bomber aircraft, an indication that the company remains a potential bidder to build the service’s next-generation long-range strike bomber (LRS-B) fleet.

 

Fonte .... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/northrop-to-position-for-future-bomber-work-as-lrs-b-395489/

[TT-1 Pinto]

Ci è necessario ....

 

"USAF Defends Need for New Long-Range Bomber" .... http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140220/DEFREG02/302200043

[TT-1 Pinto]

Request for proposal .... nel prossimo autunno ....

 

Bomber RFP Taking Shape ....

 

A draft request for proposals for the Long-Range Strike Bomber is now out for review and comment, and a final RFP should be issued in the fall, said Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James on Wednesday.

Speaking at a Bloomberg defense symposium in Washington, D.C., James said “there are two teams at present who are working on pre-proposal-type activities, preparing to take the next step in competition” for the LRS-B.

One announced competitor is the Boeing-Lockheed Martin team, and Northrop Grumman also has said it will bid.

The competition will play out “in the fall timeframe,” she said, adding that “additional detail will be available next week,” when the Fiscal 2015 defense budget request is formally presented to Congress.

The bomber budget “is not classified,” she said.

Lt. Gen. Charles Davis, military deputy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, told the Daily Report earlier in the day that “we’re at a point where we’re ready to begin the selection” of the bomber contractor, with a choice coming as soon as early next year.

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer told the Bloomberg audience that USAF has labored to constrain “the temptation to put more stuff on this bomber” and to keep it within the allowed $550 million unit cost, but “the folks working on this program are really working hard to get us the capabilities we need for that price…They’re really pushing the envelope.”

 

John A. Tirpak - 2/27/2014

 

Fonte .... il "Daily Report" dell'AFA ....

[TT-1 Pinto]

Ad un 'modico' prezzo ....

 

If You Believe, Clap Your Hands ....

 

Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said he firmly believes the $550 million per copy flyaway cost for the Air Force’s Long-Range Strike Bomber is realistic, and that the service will labor to make that pricetag a reality by ruling out any add-ons.

Answering a question after a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., on March 27, Welsh noted that the $550 million sticker is “not the fully-burdened ... price” of the airplane—which would include all the development and facilities needed to build it—but simply the cost to “produce an airplane off the line.”

That said, “I believe” in the price “because I own the requirements,” Welsh observed, alluding to the fact that he has sole discretion to alter them.

“We have all kinds of people who want to add ... capabilities to this bomber, and the answer right now is no. Until we get to a point in the program where we understand the trades we will be making” between capabilities and cost, Welsh said he will not approve any changes.

“We’re not at that level of maturity in this program,” he said, but the need for “80 to 100 bombers” to replace the B-52, “to fight a major conflict, and provide nuclear deterrence” isn’t in question, he said.

“To do that, we believe we’ve got to hold steady on this cost, even if it means it’s not as fancy a gadget as we’d like to have.”

 

John A. Tirpak - 3/31/2014

 

Fonte .... il "Daily Report" dell'AFA ....

[TT-1 Pinto]

Mantenere la segretezza .... è più che mai necessario ....

 

Keeping LRS-B in the Dark ....

 

The Air Force’s top acquisition official defended the secrecy surrounding the Long-Range Strike Bomber during a recent House Armed Services Committee’s seapower and power projection forces panel.

Responding to a query from Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) on both the classification level and technology maturation of the program, USAF’s acquisition head William LaPlante said he is convinced the secrecy that surrounds the program is critical to safeguarding key technology.

USAF is going for a “Block A” approach, where 80 percent of the requirements in the aircraft are rolled out in the first version while maintaining the target $550 million baseline, he said in the April 2 hearing.

This is why it is not front-loading requirements on early versions.

“We’re holding firm to that,” LaPlante said.

As time goes by USAF wants to “hook into either an open architecture with new sensors, hardened spots on the wings,” and other parts of the aircraft with more up-to-date developments.

“We don’t know what technology is going to be there, but we have to build it [so we] … have the technology ramp… that can inject these technologies.”

LaPlante noted one of the issues he has been examining is whether USAF has a “sufficient technology ramp” to feed next generation versions of the bomber.

“In some areas we do, and some areas we don’t,” he said. “And we can’t talk about it more here.”

 

Marc V. Schanz - 4/7/2014

 

Fonte .... il "Daily Report" dell'AFA ....

[Scagnetti]

Request for proposal .... nel prossimo autunno ....

 

 

Invece sembra che la Richesta di offerta ufficiale con i requisiti verrà resa pubblica tra poche settimane. La scelta del vincitore dovrebbe essere completata in un anno, e si conferma in qualche modo che ci dovrebbero essere già in giro prototipi volanti: The Bomber Countdown Has Started

 

The Air Force is within weeks of issuing a final request for proposals for the new Long-Range Strike Bomber and expects to choose a single contractor to build the airplane “nominally in about a year,” service acquisition executive William LaPlante told Air Force Magazine in an interview. A draft RFP has been out for some time, and while there are “still some iterations going on” between USAF and its contractors over what the final RFP will say, “hopefully that will wrap up soon,” LaPlante said. The downselect in Spring of 2015 will narrow the field of competitors to just one contractor or team, he said. The competition phase has not been limited to “paper studies,” he allowed, but includes flying demonstrators or better. “We will have variants of technical articles … if you want to call them ‘prototypes,’” he said, and this fact, though previously undisclosed, should be no surprise because the program is “relying on relatively mature technologies,” LaPlante explained. Some of these flying demonstrators are the product of “internal resources that industry has already; some of it is stuff that we have funded through various programs over the years.”

 

Sepre il responsabile delle acquisizioni USAF ha dichiarato, che il LRSB sarà ad architettura aperta che consentirebbe diverse varianti, ne da conto sempre Air Force Magazine in un altro trafiletto.