US Air Force General Timothy Ray, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, discussed
the use of the hypersonic AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, as well as the Hypersonic
Air-Breathing Weapon Concept as a way to keep the B1B ‘Bone' in the air.
Viewers may note that B1Bs are scheduled to be slowly decommissioned.
General Ray told Air Force Magazine, “My goal would be to bring on at least a
squadron’s worth of airplanes modified with external pylons on the B-1, to carry the ARRW
[Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon] hypersonic cruise missile,”
Though internal storage was considered, Ray believes that “the easiest, fastest, and
probably most effective in the short term will be to go with the external pylons.”
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how hypersonic AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response
Weapon could breathe new life to B1B ‘Bone'?
Let's us get into the details.
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An object is said to be hypersonic once they exceed speeds of Mach 5 that is 5 times the
speed of sound.
This is about 1,715 meters per second or 3,836mph or 6,174 km/h.
There are currently 3 methods being applied to make hypersonic weapons.
The first is using a Scramjet engine.
The scramjet is an innovation on the Ramjet.
Ramjet engine can power flight to supersonic speeds but scramjet can enable the missiles
to reach hypersonic speeds.
The scramjet engine can power a hypersonic cruise missile.
The second is through the use of ALBM or Air-Launched Ballistic missile.
As the name suggests, this kind of missile is ballistic in nature but is launched from
air, unlike traditional ballistic missiles which are launched from land or sea-based
platforms.
The third is using HGV or Hypersonic Glide Vehicle.
In this method, the system is launched to extremely high altitudes using Ballistic Missile
or an aircraft where it skips across the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The vehicle then separates from the carrier and glides back to the earth towards its intended
target attaining hypersonic speed.
ARRW uses this approach and is actually an evolution of the Defense Advanced Research
Project's Agency's (DARPA) Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) effort.
As per DARPA, the system is expected to reach speeds of Mach 20 when it glides back to the target.
Countries like Russia, China has been developing sophisticated layered air defense.
These systems are difficult for traditional aircraft & missiles to penetrate.
This is where hypersonic weapons come in.
Their extreme speed and ability to fly in unpredictable paths give them a high probability
of penetrating the air defenses.
They will be very hard to track, let alone intercept.
It is to be noted that traditional ballistic missiles also reach hypersonic speed when
then descend down on the target but they follow a predictable predefined parabolic path which
could lead to possible interception by anti-ballistic missile defense systems.
Hypersonic weapons will be suitable for neutralizing well-defended strategic military assets.
Russia has claimed that it has already fielded an Air Launched Ballistic Missile named Kinzhal
and has claimed that it has operationally deployed hypersonic boost-glide vehicle named
Avangard.
China is thought to be pursuing hypersonic weapons as well.
It had shown off mockups of its road-mobile DF-17 as part of the October 2019 celebrations
commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
On June 12, 2019, India claimed to have test-fired a hypersonic weapon.
In 2017, Lockheed Martin won the contract to begin Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon
or ARRW development.
The company had stated it wanted to meet the desired production targets within three years.
The U.S. Air Force had announced that it has conducted the first captive carry flight test
of the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW.
The test was conducted from a B-52H bomber in June of last year.
Testing and optimization of the weapon is expected to carry on till 2021
Will Roper, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and
Logistics, said in a statement about the flight test,
“We set out an aggressive schedule with ARRW.
Getting to this flight test on time highlights the amazing work of our acquisition workforce
and our partnership with Lockheed Martin and other industry partners.”
He added, "We’re using the rapid prototyping authorities
provided by Congress to quickly bring hypersonic weapon capabilities to the warfighter.
This type of speed in our acquisition system is essential – it allows us to field capabilities
rapidly to compete against the threats we face."
The B-1A was originally designed during the 1970s as a high-altitude, Mach 2.0-capable
nuclear bomber.
However, President Jimmy Carter canceled the program on June 30, 1977, in favor of air-launched
cruise missiles carried onboard the B-52, intercontinental ballistic missiles and what
eventually became the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.
This was done after it became apparent that penetrating Soviet airspace at high altitudes
in a conventional non-stealthy aircraft was likely a suicidal endeavor.
President Ronald Reagan eventually revived the Lancer program on Oct. 2, 1981, however,
the new B-1B was optimized for low-level penetration.
Additionally, the aircraft was modified with new engine air intakes and other upgrades
to reduce its radar cross-section.
The resultant B-1B aircraft no longer possessed Mach 2 capability—topping out at roughly
Mach 1.25—but had much better survivability because of the stealthier profile.
The B1B is powered by 4 General Electric F101-GE-102 afterburning turbofan engines.
Each of these can generate 17,390 lbf (77.4 kN) thrust when operating normally and 30,780
lbf (136.9 kN) with afterburner.
These enable B1B to have an excellent range of 5,900 mi or 9,400 km and a service ceiling
of 60,000 ft.
The engine performance makes B-1B capable of hauling a lot of weapons.
B-1B has a massive payload of 125,000 lb (56,700 kg) internal and external ordnance combined.
It has 8 external hardpoints for 50,000 pounds (23,000 kg) of ordnance and 3 internal bomb
bays for 75,000 pounds (34,000 kg) of ordnance.
As per mission requirements, B1B can carry a variety of ammunitions like Mk- 84 general-purpose
bombs, CBU-87/89/CBU-97 Cluster Bomb Units, GBU-38 JDAM, AGM-158 Joint Air to Surface
Standoff Missile (JASSM) to name a few.
Depending on the exact size & profile of the ARRW, the B1B could theoretically carry 31
of these.
Since the B1B is not very stealthy, unlike the B2 Spirit, it is vulnerable to the current
crop of sophisticated air defense systems.
This is where ARRW will be useful since it can be launched from standoff distances without
getting inside the engagement envelope of enemy air defenses.
U.S Air Force has around 100 B1Bs.
So, this is a sizable fleet.
If ARRW’s integration is successful, it will make this fleet a very potent aerial
assault force capable of deep strikes.
As per the changing dynamics, America is aggressively looking to field hypersonic weapons and ARRW
is in advance stage.
Hence, it is not a very long road.
The U.S is lagging in the hypersonic weapons space, especially against Russia.
But with considerable attention and funding being provided it is expected to catch up
quickly.
It will be interesting to see the progress and how the tech matures over time.