Interviews at Barksdale were conducted by journalist and Defense News contributor Jeff Bolton. The Air Force is now arming its fleet of B-52 Bombers with prototype nuclear-armed cruise missiles to prepare the aircraft for the possibility of launching the Long Range Stand Off (LRSO) weapon.Through a $250 million deal, the Air Force will work with B-52 manufacturer Boeing to build missile carriage hardware and software, and “test” LRSO integration.The Air Force has been working with industry on prototyping and design work on the emerging Long Range Stand-Off weapon nuclear-armed cruise missile, set to enter into a new phase of construction by 2022, service officials said. B-52H bombers carry six AGM-86B/C/D missiles on each of two externally mounted pylons and eight internally on a rotary launcher, giving the B-52H a maximum capacity of 20 missiles per aircraft. Armed with a nuclear warhead, it is designated ALCM.
This would reduce the need for a decoy. In January 1968, a new requirement emerged for a modern version of Quail for this new mission, the Subsonic Cruise Aircraft Decoy, or SCAD. The system was otherwise similar to Quail, using a simple Soon after development began, it was noted that the very small For this role, the accuracy of the original INS system was not enough. Accordingly, in June 1973, SCAD was canceled in favor of a system dedicated purely to the long-range attack mission. B-52 U.S. Air Force B-52G with cruise missiles and short-range attack missiles. Fully loaded, the B-52 can carry 20 of the weapons. Among these were Examples of the AGM-86A and AGM-86B are on display at the Quail was designed in the mid-1950s when the normal attack profile for a This led to the adoption of low-level attacks, where the bombers would fly below the Looking for another solution to the Soviet SAM problem, in 1964 the Air Force began developing a new system that would directly attack the missile sites rather than confuse them. The AGM-86B has far exceeded its intended life span, having emerged in the early 1980s with a 10-year design life, Air Force statements said.Unlike the ALCM which fires from the B-52, the LRSO will be configured to fire from B-52 and B-21 bombers as well, service officials said; both the ALCM and LRSO are designed to fire both conventional and nuclear weapons.While Air Force officials say that the current ALCM remains safe, secure and effective, it is facing sustainment and operational challenges against evolving threats, service officials also acknowledge.Configuring the B-52 to fire the LRSO is also aligned with the current Air Force effort to reconfigure the aircraft’s weapons byas. In June 1986 a limited number of AGM-86B missiles were converted to carry a high-explosive In 1996 and 1997, 200 additional CALCMs were produced from excess ALCMs. Fully loaded, the B-52 can carry 20 of the weapons. This led to it being the same 14 foot (4.3 m) length as SRAM, and the use of a fuselage with a triangular cross-section, which maximized the useable volume on the rotary launchers. We are not expanding our capabilities, we’re not violating a treaty, we’re not developing a new capability.

The concept started as a long-range drone aircraft that would act as a decoy, distracting Soviet air defenses from the bombers. The AGM-86 ALCM is an American subsonic air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) built by Boeing and operated by the United States Air Force.

And while we fielded that, advanced cruise missile had some challenges logistically, maintenance was difficult. To reach the intended range, this new Extended Range Version (ERV) would have to be lengthened to contain more fuel, or external fuel tanks would have to be added. The B-52s could carry up to … A MALD-J “jammer” variant, which will also be integrated into the B-52, can be used to jam enemy radar technologies as well.IWBU, which uses a digital interface and a rotary launcher to increase the weapons payload, is expected to cost roughly $313 million, service officials said.I am unclear about the LRSO, is it a totally new missile or is it a variation of the AGM-158 series (B, C, and D models) ?Will the new nuclear armed cruise missile arrive early? The B-52’s nuclear option of choice is the AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile, commonly referred to as the ALCM. The Air Force decided to cancel production of the A-model ALCM, and replace it with either an air-launched version of the SLCM, or the ERV. The first example, similar to the original SCAD in most ways, flew for the first time in March 1976, and its new guidance system was first tested that September. These missiles, designated Block I, incorporate improvements such as a larger and improved conventional payload (3,000 pound blast class), a multi-channel GPS receiver and integration of the buffer box into the GPS receiver. Through a $250 million deal, the Air Force will work with B-52 manufacturer Boeing to build missile carriage hardware and software, and “test” LRSO integration.The Air Force has been working with industry on prototyping and design work on the emerging Long Range Stand-Off weapon nuclear-armed cruise missile, set to enter into a new phase of construction by 2022, service officials said. Meanwhile, the Air Force had also issued a requirement for a version with a much longer 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) range.