Air Force 4-Star: We Need 225 Bombers

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By Kris Osborn – Editor-in-Chief, Warrior Maven

(Washington, D.C.) Senior Air Force leaders believe that current shortages in the U.S. bomber fleet are putting the service, and the nation, at tremendous risk of enemy attack.

The U.S. Air Force needs as many as 225 bomber aircraft to meet current and future threats presented by rivals such as Russia and China, according to Gen. Timothy Ray, Commander of Global Strike Command and Strategic Command. Speaking at the 2019 Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Ray said the Air Force bomber inventory needs to jump from roughly 156 up to more than 220.

“The number is North of 225. The B-1s and B-2 are older airplanes,” Ray said at the conference.

The current bomber problem, Air Force developers explain, is made worse by the age of its bomber fleet; current B-2s, B-1s and B-52s are aircraft first engineered decades ago. While ongoing modernization efforts in many cases, such as the B-2, have continued to make the aircraft viable, relevant and operationally effective for years, there is broad consensus that the service is in great need of newer platforms – such as the B-21 Raider slated to emerge in the 2020s.

Interestingly, the B-2 bomber just experienced the 30-year anniversary of its first flight earlier this year. The Air Force plans to fly the bomber for at least several more decades as B-21s come online. New sensors, computer processors, weapons interfaces and radar signature reducing technologies have made the B-2 into an entirely different aircraft than it was years ago. Many believe it will remain dominant for decades to come. However, much to the dismay of many in the Air Force and DoD, there are only 20 B-2 bombers. — For Warrior’s Special B-2 30 Year Anniversary ReportCLICK HERE—