Posted in Beijing 2023-12-05 15:55
The B-21's maiden flight last month was a milestone in U.S. air power and a signal for the Pentagon's commitment to conventional and nuclear capabilities, according to Brian Clark, director of the Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, according to the Conviction on December 3.
But as the B-21 went from concept to reality, the war has changed over the past 20 years. Unmanned systems, electromagnetic warfare, artificial intelligence, and commercial satellite capabilities have transformed the battlefield. To remain influential in the 2030s and beyond, the B-21 needs a capable team.
* The purpose of the bombers is to provide what the Air Force calls "affordable quality", or the ability to use smaller, cheaper **, since the aircraft transporting them can approach the target. As the war in Ukraine has shown, with the improvement of air defense radars and the enhancement of space-based sensors, such as those deployed, it is becoming more and more difficult to infiltrate targets formulated by many commercial companies and some **.
The B-21 is designed to evade enemy radars, infrared detectors or video cameras. The challenge will come from all directions, and in the coming decades, as more and more satellites and UAVs become part of the enemy's air defense network. If the B-21s have to be launched from a greater distance, they will have to carry larger and more expensive missiles that may need to update target data, as they may fly for an hour or more.
Weather the storm
In the 20th century, experts in air power believed that bombers would almost always be able to reach their targets. The air defense system is not very accurate and cannot reach high altitudes. This has changed with the advent of modern systems, such as today's systems that make the skies over Ukraine too dangerous for most aircraft.
A bomber like the B-21 will use its low-profile radar-absorbing coating and unique exhaust ducts to avoid detection, but if taken from a right angle in the right conditions. To make it more difficult to classify and target targets, the Air Force can deploy B-21-equipped drones to jam radars, act as electronic or infrared decoys, or attack air defense systems before they engage bombers.
But the co-op fighters, as the Air Force call them, probably shouldn't accompany the bombers on their entire journey from Missouri or Hawaii to the South China Sea. If this is done, the drone will need to have the same range, speed, and stealth as the bomber to avoid attracting the attention of the team before reaching the target. The resulting costs can make mass purchases impractical for unmanned teammates.
Instead, the Air Force should plan to assemble support personnel for the B-21 on site. Ships, aircraft, or troops manned or unmanned on the ground can launch smaller, less stealthy, and lower-cost jamming, decoy, or anti-radiation drones to go to the target area with the B-21. While flying a destroyer or C-17 transport aircraft into the South China Sea may be too risky for wartime drone deliveries, unmanned surface ships like the Navy's Sea Hunter, unmanned underwater vehicles such as ORCAs, or unmanned aerial vehicles such as the MQ-9B may be a good fit for the job.
Unmanned systems can help the B-21
Perhaps the biggest challenge to the bearable mass will be to ensure that every missile launched by the B-21 actually hits the target.
Smaller unmanned systems can help the B-21 sort in a chaotic battlefield at sea or on shore, as well as tie down enemy air defense systems so that American missiles can reach their intended targets. As part of a salvo of U.S. missiles, drone teammates like those protecting the B-21 can help identify **value targets and jam or attack air defense systems. On the surface, small unmanned surface UAVs, such as those that threaten the Russian Black Sea Fleet, can launch multi-axis attacks on enemy ships, making them more vulnerable to air strikes.
Assembling a team to achieve affordable mass production shifts much of the Pentagon's technical challenges from developing sophisticated new platforms like the B-21 to integrating those already available. Potential teammates of the raiders are already being used or are present on the scene in some form. But the communication networks, mission planning and control software, and data structures they will use are not yet in place.
The Pentagon is taking steps to make the team needed for the B-21 not only viable, but universal. However, this effort requires new investments – which require congressional passage of the defense budget – as well as the ongoing attention of leaders who often focus on new ships, aircraft, or systems. Unless the Department of Defense and its congressional backers invest as much money and effort in integration as they do in hardware, the time and money invested in impressive platforms like the B-21 will come to naught.