The Air Force Wants Its B-52s To Carry Mysterious 20,000lb Weapons Under Their Wings
The service says the bombers need new underwing pylons for particularly heavy bombs or missiles, but hasn't identified any specific types.
By Joseph TrevithickJune 22, 2018
The U.S. Air Force is looking into purchasing new pylons for its B-52H bombers that could allow them to carry multiple 20,000-pound class weapons under each wing. This would allow the aircraft to carry almost any bomb or missile the service has in inventory now and could be a prelude to integrating new weapons, such as air-launched hypersonic cruise missiles, onto the planes in the future.
On June 21, 2018, the Air Force Materiel Command revealed it was interested in acquiring what it calls the Heavy Release Capability (HRC) pylons as part of the B-52 Heavy Weapon Release Pylon Program in a notice on the U.S. government’s main contracting website, FedBizOpps. The formal request for information says the service wants to get to the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase, which involves work on an actual prototype system and would last approximately 72 months, as quickly as possible.
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/21700/the-air-force-wants-its-b-52s-to-carry-mysterious-20000lb-weapons-under-their-wings
