What will the 2018 bomber for the air force be?

Question

Will it be the fb-22 bomber adapted for more payload and longer range? Are there any links that give clues as to wheather the fb-22 will be developed?

Will it use two of the new joint strike fighter engines?

Answer 1

The future bomber needs are being accessed and new development and design is going on now.

Answer 2

The Boeing B-52 is slated to be kept on active duty until 2040 or 2045 depending on the source.  I suspect we may see third and fourth generation pilots at the controls of the BUFF.

Answer 3

Probably still have the B-52 for another 20-30 years as well as the B-1 and B-2....UCAV's will probably be the next step in unmanned combat vehicles and bombers for extended loiter time and less stress on air crew. Could be a bomber version of the Mach-6 Aurora spyplane in the works as well. Government black projects are usually under wraps for ten to fifteen years or so before being publicized.

Ben Rich, the onetime director of Lockheed's Skunk Works, after Kelly Johnson, once said that they had projects out in the desert that were 50 years ahead of what we could even imagine.

http://jawa.janes.com/public/jawa/index....

Answer 4

The fb-22 is an idea for an interim bomber until the 2018 bomber is developed.  The 2018 bomber will be supersonic or possibly hypersonic. Both projects call for use of "off the shelf" propulsion systems so the engine developed for the joint strike fighter could end up being used although it's too soon to tell.

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In early 2002, Lockheed Martin began briefing the US Air Force on a modified bomber version of the F-22 Raptor fighter, featuring a delta wing, longer body and greater range and payload. This company-funded study of the FB-22, conducted during 2002, was an internally generated, proprietary study into the feasibility of making a derivative of the F-22. The FB-22 medium bomber is based on existing and planned capabilities of the F-22 fighter, a heritage that would limit development costs should the idea go into production

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...

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The 2018 Bomber is the unofficial name given to a medium bomber currently under development by the United States Air Force. It is projected to enter service in 2018 as a super stealthy, subsonic medium range, medium payload type to augment and possibly to a limited degree replace the U.S. Air Force's aging bomber fleet.

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Answer 5

same answer i gave to your double post:

The F/B-22 is only an experimental prototype and the moment, although it seems to be headed to be the US's main long range bomber, replacing a large portion of the current arsenal of long range bombers. It will not use two F-32JSF engines, it will actually be using the same powerplant as the F/A-22.

I personally think that the F/B-22 looks a bit crappy due to its delta wing design, but seeing as how it is fully stealth like its brother F/A-22 (the F/B-22 being a derivative from the F/A-22). I love the F/A-22 by the way. The F/B-22 does have long range capability due to its mid-air refueling system, but I'm not too sure that its payload will be too great. Think of it like a much stealthier F/B-117 -_- lol.

The F/B-22 will NOT be like a large version of the F/A-22, although it is a derivative craft (its design is basically the F/A-22, with changes to the wing structure and cabin and electronics and such). Basically, it will be a delta wing version of the F/A-22, but I say that it will not be a large version of the F/A-22 because so many changes have been made to the F/B-22 that it can be called a new aircraft.

My vote here is that it will replace most of the current and aging fleet of B-22's and F-117's as medium and long range heavy bombers.

Answer 6

New technology is created for the Air Force under Top Secret rules.

All I can tell you, that Jet propulsion is not in the future of the Air Force and a new propulsion is now being tested