What Happened to the B1 Lancer’s Nukes?

The B1 Lancer is often seen as a mediocre bomber, offering little in terms of an upgrade over the B-52. However, it was sufficient to alarm the Soviets, prompting negotiations that led to performance reductions within the Fleet. Despite its lack of innovation, the B1 Lancer made its mark during the Cold War.

The B-1B variant no longer carries nuclear weapons. By 1995, its nuclear capabilities were deactivated with the removal of critical components, such as the nuclear arming and fuzing hardware. This shift fundamentally changed the aircraft's role within the U.S. Air Force.

Under the New START treaty with Russia, further modifications were made to the B-1B. These included removing hardware necessary for carrying nuclear weapons, ensuring the aircraft’s compliance with the treaty. Russian officials conduct annual inspections to verify the aircraft’s compliance with the treaty’s terms.

#B1Lancer #USAirForce #BomberAircraft #ColdWar #NewSTARTTreaty #B1B #NuclearWeapons #ArmsControl #MilitaryHistory #SovietUnion #B52
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[wagyu_a_beef]

The B1 honestly looks like a spaceship

[safebox]

The transcript is taken directly from the Wikipedia page, which has been out of date since 2022 as Russia suspended its participation in the New START treaty in 2023; they no longer perform inspections.

[Cars-N-Jets]

Until you've seen the two in person and realize the drastic difference between speed.

[cherrypoptart]

I wonder if Russia did the same with their Tu22s or Tu160s for this deal

[brickchip]

I remember when the B1 was unveiled. Everyone was losing their minds because it literally cost it’s weight in gold.

[f.eudier]

I disagree. The bone can fly under radar and follow terrain and deliver the payload without being detected, the B-52 can be spotted hundreds of miles away not a good thing so whoever is telling you to be ones not a good airplane they’re wrong they can deliver a payload and hide all day long.

[hellbringer]

B-1 was and still is a really potent weapon. Its downfall was ongoing support. Problem with us procurement they are always focused on new not updated exsisting airframes (unless it is made by boeing then somehow they get all the support even if the aircraft that won trials is worse)

[christopherleveck]

The Bone is anything BUT a mediocre bomber.
It can fly 2x the speed of sound and 50 feet off the ground anywhere in the world.
It can drop more bombs than an entire squadron of WWII bombers in a single mission.
You will never see it coming and it will ruin the whole day of an entire camp worth of bad guys.
It will turn a football field of desert into glass.
Night or day.

[Thoriumplatypus]

In my opinion the B1B is the best performing aircraft ever built.No aircraft in the next 5 decades will be able to match it's combination of payload, speed, and range.

[Dwohman]

I was a crew chief on the B-1b. It was anything but mediocre. The B-52 is an amazing bomber for what it is. The B-1b is leaps and bounds ahead in capabilities. And just an FYI, they are not nuclear disabled. They are currently not carrying nukes, but they can be rearmed at anytime. The nukes the B-1b carries can be attached to the bomb bay rotary racks and as far as arming them, that's a few instrument panels switched out. Which is only about an hours work.

[frazzel]

It would be easily converted back to being nuclear capable if war was to break out though so its pointless removing the capability

[yourfriend]

The B1 lancer carries a larger payload than the B-52.

[darkmatter]

So is there any particular reason why we can’t make a nuclear bomb that is able to be put in the Lancer without those attachment points using a different one?

[remydaitch]

Totally incorrect, sortie #'$, the last 20+ years. And low level terrain auto-pilot is unmatched. Wrong wrong wrong

[faizanqureshi]

The tu 160 is better than the b1.Much more impressive.

[tonyrotzler]

Mediocre? I seriously doubt that! Rather ride the Bone on the deck busting Mach 1 than a high in the Sky subsonic B-52

[Shepherds-zb]

were those gatlings or wtvr on the B52?

[Nickjustdabs]

Did you actually just say the b1 is not an improvement from the b52? How dumb can you actually be ffs, the b1 is WAY WAY faster, CARRYS MORE WEIGHT AND BOMBS, and its newer😭 bros reading his script backwards🤣🤣