The B-21 Bomber Should Be Unmanned on Day 1
May 31, 2016 By Kelley Sayler
Paul Scharre
So far, U.S. Air Force leaders have said only that it will eventually be able to fly without crew.
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016/05/b-21-bomber-should-be-unmanned-day-1/128714/?oref=d-topstoryWhile plans for the B-21 — née Long Range Strike-Bomber — have long included an unmanned option, Air Force officials have shown little interest in having that capability on Day One of the plane’s service life. This is unwise; an unmanned option would increase the U.S. military’s operational flexibility, providing much-needed endurance and persistence at only a marginal increase in cost.
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Authors
Kelley Sayler is an associate fellow with the Defense Strategies and Assessments Program at the Center for a New American Security.
Paul Scharre is a Senior Fellow and Director of the 20YY Future of Warfare Initiative at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Full Bio
To date, the Air Force has confirmed that the B-21 will be inhabited — that is, it will carry aircrew — when it enters service around 2025 and that it will be nuclear-certified about two years later. (It has also said no nuclear missions will take place without crew aboard.) However, the service has not offered a definitive statement on when the aircraft is expected to feature an uninhabited capability. It is reportedly “not a short-term priority” for the Air Force, and thus unlikely to be incorporated into early production models.
But delaying – or, worse yet, dropping – the uninhabited option would be a grave mistake. Uninhabited platforms offer a number of advantages over their inhabited counterparts, especially against the kinds of anti-access/area denial, or A2/AD, capabilities that many U.S. competitors – including China, Russia, and Iran – have been aggressively pursuing. An uninhabited B-21 could have much greater refueled endurance and persistence than it could with people onboard, enabling it to conduct ultra-long missions — for example, loitering in or near enemy territory until a target presents itself. Untethered from pilot endurance limits, a B-21 could stay aloft for days with aerial refueling, and could marshal many more sorties in an extended campaign.
As road-mobile missiles – such as China’s DF-21D “carrier killer” – and other A2/AD systems proliferate, the demand for such capabilities will increase. Although the U.S. Navy’s uninhabited carrier-based program was once expected to provide a supplementary long-range, stealthy strike capability, changes in program requirements – such as reductions in the program’s stealthiness and strike capacity – have reduced its ability to contribute. This gives an optionally-inhabited B-21 particular importance to a joint force in search of new ways to eliminate threats to U.S. surface assets and land bases.
