B-21 "Raider" stealth bomber

GarryB wrote:Well the idea is bloody stupid... it would make more sense to adapt your strategic bombers into strategic cruise missile carriers... like the Soviets did in the 1980s, and keep your transport planes for transporting stuff which is what they were designed for.

Converting bomber strategic bombers into strategic cruise missile carriers will not increase the number of missiles that the bomber can carry.

The Soviets found that out too.

GarryB wrote: C-17... an enormously expensive transport plane and use it to carry stand off missiles their B-52s could already carry much more efficiently and cheaply to make it all nice and expensive while pretending to save money.

B-52 will deliver a PGM like JASSM-ER from stand off range, C-17 will do the same.

What is the availability rate of a Tu-160 after just one mission? It takes hours to refill a TU-160 with fuel and weapons, check for air worthiness before it can be sent back to the theatre again. Practically they can fly at best one mission a day.

OTOH, if there are transport aircraft available that can carry palletized munition like the JASSM they can be airborne immediately and deliver the munition into the theatre from stand off range.

So instead of waiting for 4-5 TU 160s to get airborne after 24 hours, in the interim transport aircraft can easily play the role of a strategic cruise missile carrier.

GarryB wrote:a C-17 doesn't have the electronic self defence avionics that a B-52 does...

EW suite of the C-17 can be upgraded, always.

Unless you're bombing bumfuckistan of the week, this C-130 jizm shit won't fly at all. Two things you need to break through substantial enemy air defences: speed and or stealth, and transport aircraft like the C-17 and C-130 are neither of those. Since they are large and obnoxious, these transport planes would be detected at almost the edge of sensor range, giving more than ample time to prepare a suitable intercept package. And since they are slow, the intercepting aircraft would beat them to the punch at the release sites, and even with escorts you do not want these things to get anywhere near BVR range. Chuck in some stealth interceptors and suddenly preventing your transports from getting sniped just got exponentially harder.

I'm sure there are other ways of skinning the IADS cat that doesn't involve suicide by IADS, but this ain't it, chief.