Wednesday, May 16, 2018

BONE.

This is coolbert:

BONE = B-1B bomber. Bad to the BONE!

Close-air gunship ground support? That is the question?

From The Drive and the article by Tyler Rogoway:

"Boeing's Been Granted A Patent For Turning The B-1B Into A Gunship Bristling With Cannons"

"The patent includes various concepts that would allow multiple cannon configurations to be uploaded into the B-1's weapons bays."

"B-1B Lancer 'gunship' may sound like something a kid doodles on his desk during a 4th-grade math class, but Boeing has actually been awarded a patent for just that."

"U.S. Patent 9,963,231 B2 was awarded on May 8th to Boeing. It depicts a number of cannon configurations that can be stowed in a B-1B's weapons bays and extended down outside of those bays for use"



See also this You tube video the concept of a bomber aircraft [medium-range] in use as a close-air support gunship. This was Pave Gat the concept of which was first formulated and proposed as an add-on for the B-57 Canberra. An idea never brought to fruition but apparently never discarded either. Think AC-47, AC-119, AC-130.

Bushmaster gun system with a variety of exploding ammunition available on demand if and when the B-1B ever configured as a ground-assault warplane of formidable capability.

But for now remains a concept and idea and nothing more.

coolbert.



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