B-1 Bomber has a New Mission

The B-1 Bomber Has a New Mission

And it's because of its new Long Range Anti-Ship Missile.

By Kyle Mizokami

America's first stealthy bomber, the Rockwell B-1B, now has a new mission: ship killer. Originally designed to penetrate enemy air defenses during a nuclear war, the B-1B has been adapted to a wide range of non-nuclear missions. Now, with the successful launch of the U.S. military's latest anti-ship cruise missile, the "Bone" has been transformed into a powerful naval strike platform capable of taking on the most heavily defended enemy task forces.

The B-1B bomber was originally conceived as a heavy strategic bomber. The large, swing-wing bomber was meant to fly fast and low, evading enemy radars and interceptors to penetrate the airspace of the Soviet Union and launch nuclear-tipped Short Range Attack Missiles at high value targets.

The B-1B fleet was taken off the nuclear mission in the early 1990s, the equipment necessary to launch nuclear weapons permanently removed and replaced with racks to carry conventional weapons. The B-1B's ability to dash to targets, long range, and large bomb bay capacity has made it a versatile platform. B-1B bombers dropped satellite-guided JDAM bombs during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, provided close air support of ground troops in Afghanistan, and have bombed ISIS targets in Operation Inherent Resolve. The bombers are also cleared to drop Quickstrike sea mines, modified iron bombs designed to be air-dropped into waterways to deny them to the enemy.


LRASM during captive carry tests at Dyess Air Force Base, 2013.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Damon Kasberg)

On August 17th, a B-1B bomber launched a Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, from the skies over Point Mugu, California. According to the U.S. Navy, the missile, "navigated through all planned waypoints, transitioned to mid-course guidance and flew toward the moving maritime target using inputs from the onboard multimodal sensor. It then descended to low altitude for final approach to target area, positively identified and impacted the target from among a group of ships."

LRASM is an anti-ship missile descended from the U.S. Air Force's JASSM-ER cruise missile. Once launched from a ship or aircraft, LRASM proceeds in the direction of the target. The missile can fly to multiple preset waypoints, avoiding obstacles such as islands and commercial shipping, then receives further targeting data via satellite. LRASM can adjust its flight path to avoid enemy air defenses before descending on a fleet of enemy ships. The missile is smart enough to sort through the ships of an enemy task force, identify its target, then strike the target at a precise point specified by mission planners.

LRASM is set to arm the Air Force's B-1B and the Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. What makes the LRASM/B-1B combination stand outis the sheer amount of firepower the heavy bomber can deliver. Just three bombers could launch 72 LRASMs at a target.

The B-1B is expected to reach Early Operational Capability with the LRASM in 2018.