Experts Urge USAF to Hang on to the Bombers, Invest in Long-Range Systems
9/6/2019
​—John A. Tirpak
The Air Force should hold off on retiring any legacy bombers until B-21s are rolling off the assembly line in substantial numbers, and should generally invest in longer-range systems and enablers like tankers, according to the leaders of two studies that examined the force structure the Air Force will need in the next 20 years.
David Gerber, senior principal systems engineer with the MITRE Corp., said his company’s analysis recommends “no bomber retirements until substantial B-21 deliveries have occurred,†in about the 2035 timeframe. Air Force Global Strike Command has released a roadmap postulating that the B-1 and B-2 bombers would exit the inventory in the 2031-33 timeframe. To get full value out of the bombers, USAF should spend the sustainment money to achieve an 80 percent mission capable rate, which would translate into “30 additional bombers†worth of capability based on a fleet of 157 of the stealth aircraft, Gerber said Sept. 5 at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event on Capitol Hill.
http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2019/September%202019/Experts-Urge-USAF-to-Hang-onto-the-Bombers-Invest-in-Long-Range-Systems.aspx
