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)
Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held meetings with defense leaders from the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea during a trip to the Indo-Pacific this week.