In a few hours the Pentagon will announce the company that will develop the new US strategic bomber. The choice will fall on one of two projects presented by Northrop Grumman and a Boeing / Lockheed Martin team. Both could be flying wings.
The next generation super bomber of American aviation (some may even be unmanned) is slowly becoming a reality. We already know the price of the new bomber: 550 million dollars per specimen per fleet composed of 100 new generation aircraft and a total cost of 55 billion dollars.
The new bomber will cost a quarter of the B-2, currently under the USAF. The twenty-one aircraft built and the prohibitive operating costs relegate the B-2 more to propaganda aircraft than to realistic combat aircraft (also because there are no theaters that require the strength, power and technology of the B-2 dissolved the USSR ). However, the fear that is aroused is undeniable.
Il Long Range Strike-Bomber is considered a top priority for the Air Force. The US Air Force wants a long-range subsonic bomber with high aerodynamic efficiency, the ability to evade any type of air defense and a virtually zero RCS (Radar Cross Section). The very low radar signature is a fundamental prerequisite of the new bomber. In addition to conventional armament, the future bomber will have the ability to carry nuclear warheads at enormous distances.
The project is classified by the 2011, but as we know, between development and experimentation and what is shown to public opinion there is a gap of about 20 / 25 years. The proof is given by the fact that the two new prototypes of the USAF would have skied the skies for some time. For some time now, in the USA, we have been photographing strange objects (properly and deliberately exchanged also for UFOs). From new-generation technology demonstrators to the RQ-180 stealth drone, from the LRSB prototype to the advanced (though larger) version of the X-47B.
Last but not least, the camouflage trail, used by decades for every nation: to make public opinion (or the enemy) believe that it is in possession of some kind of weapon system to hide shadow operations or secret projects. A targeted choice therefore to divert attention from something else (or to lower the crest as it happened when the F-117 was shown).
As always, in the spotlight is the Nevada Groom Lake base, also known as the 51 Area, over the years at the center of every conspiracy theory. Over the years the base has become a mirror for larks. Many do not know, for example, that in the USA there are at least ten other bases like the Area-51. No one knows where they are. Few know they exist.
(image: Northrop Grumman)
