The Next Generation Bomber: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress

Abstract

The Air Force is in the initial stages of formalizing a new bomber aircraft acquisition program. This program, in accordance with Department of Defense (DOD) and congressional mandates, is to produce a new long-range strike aircraft to be operational by 2018. Air Force plans for acquiring a new bomber aircraft have been accelerated by about 20 years from earlier projections because of a combination of the Air Force s desire to retire a portion of its B-52 fleet and DOD s perception of a developing bomber capability gap. Defense analysts have estimated that it will cost between $8 billion and $10 billion to develop a new bomber using current or soon-to-mature technologies.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 07, 2008
Accession Number
ADA478268

Entities

People

  • Anthony Murch

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Bomber Aircraft
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Governments
  • Military Aircraft
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Prompt Global Strike
  • Supersonic Aircraft
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Defense Acquisition Program Management