Bomber Aircraft

[Justin]

Bomber Aircraft

Advantages of bombing

• Deadly psychological warfare. Infrequent raids frightened civilians, as they had no idea when the bombers were coming, the damage they would inflict, and who would be killed.
• Allowed for targets out of the reach of artillery or ground forces to be strafed or destroyed.
• Huge amounts of damage could be inflicted upon targets.
• Bombers could be modified to assume a wide variety of roles.

Disadvantages of bombing

• Frequent bombing sometimes ceased to have a terrifying psychological effect on the victims.
• Civilian casualties are impossible to avoid.
• Bombers are vulnerable to attack, and the rise of the interceptor in the 1960's proved that one does not need to see his enemy to engage it.
• Bombers are extremely expensive to build, expensive to maintain, and very vulnerable to interceptors and missiles.

 

[Justin]

Boeing B-1 Lancer

• Origin
• USA
• Type
• long-range multi-role strategic bomber
• Max Speed
• 8716 kt / 825 mph
• Max Range
• 12000 km / 7,455 miles
• Dimensions
• span 41.67 m / l36 ft 8.5 in spread and 23.84 m / 78 ft 2.5 in swept length 44.81 m / 147 ft 0 in height 10.36 m / 34 ft 0 in
• Weight
• empty 87090 kg / 192,000 lb max. take-off 216,364 kg / 477,000 lb
• Powerplant
• four 13,962-kg (30,780-lb) afterburning thrust General Electric F101-GE-102 turbofans
• Armament
• three internal bays for up to 34019 kg (75,000 lb) of weapons, plus eight underfuselage stations with a capacity of 26762 kg (59,000 Ib); weapons can include AGM- 69 SRAMs, AGM-868 ALCMs, B-28, B-43, B-61 or B-83 nuclear bombs, and Mk 82 or Mk 84 conventional bombs
• Operators:
• United States

 

[Justin]

Boeing B-52H Stratofortress

• Origin
• USA
• Type
• long-range strategic cruise missile carrier and bomber
• Max Speed
• 516 kt / 594 mph
• Max Range
• 16093 km / 10,000 miles
• Dimensions
• span 56.39 m / 185 ft 0 in length 49.04 m / 160 ft 10.8 in height 12.40 m / 40 ft 8 in
• Weight
• max. take-off 221,353 kg / 488,000 lb
• Powerplant
• eight 7711-kg (17,000-lb) dry thrust Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-3 turbofans
• Armament
• provision for up to approximately 22680 kg (50,000 Ib) of disposable stores
• Operators:
• United States

 

[Justin]

Northrop-Grumman B-2 Spirit

• Origin
• USA
• Type
• two/three-seat strategic 'stealth' bomber and missile-launch platform
• Max Speed
• 416 kt / 475 mph
• Max Range
• 18,532 km /11,515 miles
• Dimensions
• span 52.43 m / 172 ft 0 in length 21.03 m / 69 ft 0 in height 5.18 m / 17 ft 0 in
• Weight
• empty 45,360 kg / 100,000 lb max. take-off 181,437 kg / 400,000 lb
• Powerplant
• four 8618-kg (19.000-lb) dry thrust General Electric F118-GE-110 turbofans
• Armament
• up to 22,680 kg (50,000 lb) of disposable stores carried in two side-by-side lower-fuselage weapon bays; each bay can accommodate one eight-round Boeing Rotary Launcher for a total of 16 1.1 megaton B83 thermonuclear free-fall bombs; alternative loads are 20 megaton-range B61 thermonuclear free-fall bombs, or 22 680-kg (1,500-lb) or 80 227-kg (500-lb) free-fall bombs

 

[Justin]

Sukhoi SU-24 Fencer

Origin

• Russia
• Type
• strike and attack aircraft
• Max Speed
• 1,250 kt / 1,439 mph
• Max Range
• 1,050 km / 650 miles
• Dimensions
• span 17.63 m / 57 ft 10 in length 24.53 m / 80 ft 5.75 in height 4.97 m / 16 ft 3.75 in
• Weight
• empty 19,000 kg / 41,888 lb max. take-off 39,700 kg / 87,520 lb
• Powerplant
• two 11250-kg (24,802-lb) afterburning thrust Lyul'ka AL-21 F-3A turbojets
• Armament
• one 23-mm GSh-23-6 six-barrel cannon; provision for 8000 kg (17,635 Ib) of disposable stores, including nuclear weapons, AAMs, ASMs, guided bombs, bombs, cluster bombs, dispenser weapons, large-calibre rockets, rocket-launcher pods, drop tanks and ECM pods, carried on nine external hardpoints
• Operators:

Azerbaijan, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, Libya, Russia, Syria, Ukraine,Uzbekistan

 

[Justin]

Tupolev TU-160 Blackjack

• Origin
• Russia
• Type
• long-range strategic penetration bomber and missile platform
• Max Speed
• 1.079 kt / 1.243 mph
• Max Range
• 14,000 km / 8.699 miles
• Dimensions
• span 55.70 m / 182 ft 9 in length 54.10 m / 177 ft 6 in height 13.10 m / 43 ft 0 in
• Weight
• empty 118,000 kg / 260,140 lb max. take-off 275,000 kg / 606,261 lb
• Powerplant
• four 25,000-kg (55,115 lb) afterburning thrust Kuznetsov NK-321 turbofans
• Armament
• provision for 16500 kg (36.376 Ib) of disposable stores carried in two lower-fuselage weapon bays and on hardpoints under the wing gloves; typical weapons are free-fall nuclear and/or HE bombs, and/or missiles including up to 12 RK-55 (AS-15 'Kent') cruise missiles or 24 RKV-500B (AS-16 'Kickback') short-range attack missiles
• Operators:
• Russia

 

[Justin]

Tupolev TU-22M Backfire

• Origin
• Russia
• Type
• medium strategic bomber and maritime reconnaissance/attack aircraft
• Max Speed
• 1,147 kt / 1,321 mph
• Max Range
• 4,000 km / 2,485 miles
• Dimensions
• span 34.30 m / 112 ft 6.5 in length 39.60 m / 129 ft 11 in height 10.80 m / 35 ft 5.25 in
• Weight
• max. take-off 130,000 kg / 286,596 lb
• Powerplant
• two 20000-kg (44,092-lb) afterburning thrust turbofans of unknown designation
• Armament
• two 23-mm GSh-23 two-barrel cannon in a radar-controlled tail barbette; provision for 12000 kg (26,455 Ib) of disposable stores, including nuclear weapons and free-fall bombs carried internally, or two AS-4 'Kitchen' missiles carried under the wings, or one AS-4 'Kitchen' missile carried semi-recessed into the lower fuselage, or up to three AS-6
• Operators:

India, Russia, Ukraine

 

[Justin]

Tupolev TU-95 Bear

• Origin
• Russia
• Type
• long-range strategic bomber and cruise missile platform
• Max Speed
• 440 kt / 506 mph
• Max Range
• 12,656 km / 8,100 miles
• Dimensions
• span 51.10 m / 167 ft 7.8 in length 49.50 m / 162 ft 4.8 in height 12.12 m / 39 ft 9.2 in
• Weight
• empty 120,000 kg / 264,550 lb max. take-off 188,000 kg / 414,469 lb
• Powerplant
• four 11186-ekW (15,000-eshp) Kuznetsov NK-12MV turboprops
• Armament
• two 23-mm NR-23 cannon in a manned tail turret, plus 16 RK-55 (AS-15 'Kent') cruise missiles carried in the weapons bay (six on a rotary launcher), under the wing roots (two on each side) and between the engine pairs (three on each side)
• Operators:
• India (Tu-142), Russia, Ukraine

 

[Gasoline]

Thanks for the awesome infos.
keep it up bro.

 

[Uncle Doc J]

So what's your opinion(s)? Should the army centralize their resources on the bomber, or focus on more ground-strength (with a bomber-or-three kept in reserve in case we need one).

An elderly friend of mine looks at the problems from foreign countries and usually concludes that the solution is "a nuclear warhead right in the middle of that country." And I don't think they're delivering it by commercial airliner!

Which one's your favorite, and why? Mine's the Northrup-Grumman B2 Spirit; but I'm not military-minded, it's my favorite because it looks the most like a starship (and 'stealth' makes it sound fun-like-BATMAN ).

 

[UAE]

The Chinese H-6 Bomber.

1. Top speed: 652 mph (1,050 km/h)
2. Range: 3,728 miles (6,000 km)
3. Wingspan: 108' (33 m)
4. Weight: 82,010 lbs (37,200 kg)
5. Length: 114' (35 m)
6. Cruise speed: 477 mph (768 km/h)
7. Engine type: Mikulin AM-3

H-6U gassing a pair of J-8-IIs.

H-6U dumping fuel. Note the revised nose geometry.

H-6H armed with two KD-63 ASCMs.

A row of parked H-6H Badgers. Note the aft ventral radome.

H-6H Badger (Zhenguan Studio, © 2010 Air Power Australia).

H-6H Badger (Zhenguan Studio, © 2010 Air Power Australia).

H-6H Badger (Zhenguan Studio, © 2010 Air Power Australia).

H-6H Badger attack radar radome detail (Zhenguan Studio, © 2010 Air Power Australia).

H-6H Badger wing pylon (Zhenguan Studio, © 2010 Air Power Australia).

H-6H Badger aft ventral radome (Zhenguan Studio, © 2010 Air Power Australia).

Ground crew loading a TV/datalink guided KD-63 ASCM.

Ground crew handling a radar guided YJ-63 ASCM, another variant of the YJ/KD-63 family. Note the aft ventral radome on the H-6H Badger.

 

[KimberlyD]

The USAD Bomber is going through a possible funding reduction according to the IHS Janes Defense News site.

Key Points

• The HASC is proposing a USD460 million reduction in research and development funding for the LRS-B
• The USAF still plans to award a contract in the coming months

The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) is proposing a USD460 million reduction in research and development (R&D) funding for the US Air Force's (USAF's) next-generation Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B).

A USAF official declined to comment on the markup but confirmed that the service still plans to award a contract in the coming months.

The USAF's Fiscal Year 2016 (FY 2016) budget request had USD1.2 billion in R&D funding for the programme, the service's largest single budget line for a development effort.

 

[Rakan.SA]

i really think saudi air force needs a few B-1B lancers.

 

[Waynefire]

I was at the air force museum in Dayton and I have to say I was absolutely floored by the size of the B-52. I do not know how they managed to power those things up into the air. They are awesomely powerful and mighty in size.

 

[Rock]

WWII time!

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, USA

Top Speed: 287 MPH

Range: 2000 miles

Wingspan: 103 FT 9 inches

Length: 74 FT 4 inches

Service Ceiling: 35,600 ft

Powerplant: 4 Wright R-1820-97 "Cyclone" turbosupercharged radial engines, 1200 hp each one.

MAX payload: 17,600 pounds

Weight (empty): 36,135 pounds

Crew: 10