B-1B Lancers may one day be able to deliver four times as many precision-guided munitions as the B-52 can on a single sortie thanks to a new Multiple Ejector Rack now in testing. Today, the B-1 can carry twice as many PGMs as the B-52. The bomb rack would increase the Lancer’s combat loadout from 15 to 48 500-pound JDAM-sized weapons, a 220-percent increase. The rack is also able to host an array of different weapons simultaneously. With this addition, “B-1 operators have the ability to conduct numerous individual attacks and massive air strikes as needed, without needing to stop to reload,” explained TSgt. David Koscienski, weapons suitability noncommissioned officer in charge with the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Dyess AFB, Tex. Aircrews successfully tested the rack on a B-1 late last month at California’s China Lake Missile Range. (Dyess report by Amn. Charles Rivezzo)
The Chinese spy balloon may have popped, but funding to protect against similar threats is inflating, according to the Department of Defense. The high-attitude surveillance balloon that traversed the U.S. in late January and early February prompted last-minute additions to the Pentagon's budget of around $90 million for measures to…