Report predicts fewer next-gen bombers - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Report predicts fewer next-gen bombers

The Air Force may be able to field a next-generation bomber by its target date of 2018, but budget difficulties could delay the program and force the Air Force to buy less aircraft than it wants, according to a new Congressional Research Service report.

“The past is replete with examples of budgetary constraints resulting in drawn out or severely curtailed programs,” writes Anthony Murch, the author of the March 7 report. “If history repeats with the 2018 bomber, the Air Force might field its [bomber] in the mid to late 2020s with far fewer bombers than planned.”

The aircraft is envisioned as an interim solution using existing technology — such as stealth technology used on the F-22 and F-35 — before developing a more advanced aircraft by 2035 or 2040.

Developing the new aircraft is expected to cost $8 billion to $10 billion, assuming existing or “soon-to-mature” technologies are used, the report says.

The Air Force has said little publicly about the bomber program because it is classified. But the report, citing Rebecca Grant of IRIS Independent Research, said some aircraft capabilities and program milestones are emerging.

Among the aircraft characteristics are:

* Two engines.

* A 28,000 pound payload.

* High subsonic cruising speed.

* Improved stealth technology.

* The ability to carry nuclear weapons.

* A 4,000-nautical-mile unrefueled flight range.

The technology will need to reach maturity by 2009, and a demonstration flight should be conducted in 2011. About 100 aircraft are expected to be procured.

But the report notes widespread skepticism among industry analysts that the program will proceed smoothly and on time. Among the hurdles the report cites are the fact that the Air Force requested no funding for the program in its 2009 budget request; a lack of clear commitment to the program by U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Pacific Command; the need to fund several other high-cost programs, such as the F-35 and new tanker; and the tendency of aircraft development programs to become overly expensive, leading to delays and fewer purchased aircraft.

The report also says that both manned and unmanned variants are likely, with the unmanned version being for conventional missions and the manned version flying both conventional and nuclear missions. An unmanned aircraft carrying nuclear weapons would likely cause public outcry, the report says. Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne told Congress earlier in March that the program would include both manned and unmanned versions, but he did not address the nuclear weapons issue.

Boeing and Lockheed Martin have teamed up to develop an offering for the new bomber, and Northrop Grumman may enter the competition as well, the report says.