B 52 cockpit5/5/2023 Aerospace Vehicle Pylon for the B-52H specifically to allow the B-52H to carry and launch rockets destined for space. The B-52 has successfully launched a laundry list of aircraft and spacecraft: the X-15 hypersonic test aircraft, all four NASA lifting bodies, the X-43A hypersonic scramjet, assorted target drones, and the Pegasus booster, which successfully delivered a satellite to orbit. The B-52 Stratofortress is America’s first-generation arsenal plane, and it can be our next-generation arsenal plane, too. The list of needs marches along amid an ever-evolving operating environment and ever-smaller coffers: Ford-class aircraft carriers, the SSBN replacement, Zumwalt-class destroyers, Amphibious Combat Vehicles, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, and more.įortunately, the Air Force already operates an arsenal platform crewed by aviators familiar with the missions of global precision attack and adept at managing numerous weapons in combat. The F-35, B-21, KC-46, Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, and fleet-wide modernization of the legacy force demand too much of the available budget and attention from senior leaders. Furthermore, the acquisition of a new major weapon system has no place at the table among the looming myriad needs of the Air Force and the Department of Defense. The possibility of modifying commercial aircraft for military use - like the KC-46 or P-8 - seems attractive on the surface, but the difficulties of weaponizing a commercial aircraft that was never intended to fire weapons are nontrivial. Not only is the idea not new, but, we already have an arsenal plane. Like many a Pentagon program, this idea has the potential to run off the rails in short order unless it is made clear that the arsenal plane concept is not a new aircraft. In February, the Air Force released an artist’s conception of an arsenal plane – an 8-engined aircraft resembling a cross between the B-52 and a C-5. The concept of the “ missile caddy,” which was intended to increase the number of air-to-air missiles available to a fighter, has been around at least since the 1990s. The concept briefings for the miniature air-launched decoy (MALD) are littered with images showing the MALD being dispensed from a C-130 or C-17. In 1979, the Carter administration proposed a converted Boeing 747-200 as the Cruise Missile Carrier Aircraft, loaded with 72 nuclear-tipped air-launched cruise missiles. One program of note in the SCO portfolio favored by Secretary Carter is the “arsenal plane” concept, which recurs every now and then. Defense journals and blogs alike are abuzz with recent projects executed or announced by the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), which is focused on technological applications for current military problems. DARPA’s endless stream of creative programs teeter on the fine line between science fiction and reality. – Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, February 2016ĭespite obstacles presented by the modern acquisition process, the Department of Defense seems determined to find solutions to its ever-growing list of requirements. In practice, the arsenal plane will function as a very large airborne magazine, network to fifth generation aircraft that act as forward sensor and targeting nodes, essentially combining different systems already in our inventory to create wholly new capabilities. And the last project I want to highlight is one that we’re calling the arsenal plane, which takes one of our oldest aircraft platforms and turns it into a flying launchpad for all sorts of different conventional payloads.
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