F-35 with B61-12

[arian]

I don't think wing kits impede penetration, SDB-1 doesn't seem to have a problem.

I'm guessing we're not talking about the same penetration capability in the B-61 vs the SDB. And I'd guess the flight profile needed for an SDB in the penetrating role is different than a long-range glide profile. Someone can probably figure out the kinetic energy needed to penetrate a HAS (as shown in those SDB photos) given the weight and falling speed of the weapon, and from what altitude it would need to start a nose-dive...and what that would imply for glide distance. But there's probably a trade-off in the two.

[spazsinbad]

Hyten Outlines STRATCOM Overhaul; Nukes Sooner For F-35?
26 Jul 2017 Colin Clark

"...In related news, Hyten told me that the he met two weeks ago with the head of European Command, Gen. Curtis Scaparotti, and discussed whether F-35A Joint Strike Fighters needed to be upgraded to carry nuclear weapons with all possible speed. He said they did not come to a decision, but reading his body language and careful wording, I’m betting they concluded this was a necessary step to take in the face of Vladimir Putin’s continuing aggression across Russia’s border with central Europe. Any move to make the F-35A nuclear capable will require, he said, close consultation with our NATO allies.

The presumptive undersecretary of defense for policy, David Trachtenberg, endorsed making the F-35A nuclear capable ASAP in his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee."

Source: http://breakingdefense.com/2017/07/hyte ... -for-f-35/

[Prinz_Eugn]

I don't think wing kits impede penetration, SDB-1 doesn't seem to have a problem.

The SDB has a shaped-charge warhead, it's not relying on kinetic energy like other bunker-busters.

[SpudmanWP]

While SDB2 has a shaped charge, SDB1 is a kinetic penetrator type of case.

Here is the SDB2



Here is the SDB1

[sferrin]

And in fact you can see the wings,tail, etc. get stripped off the penetrating warhead before it detonates right here:



One can't help but wonder if they're losing ability with SDB II with it's smaller, shaped charge warhead. Or will they keep both in production for different target types?

[SpudmanWP]

They are both staying in production. In fact, they have started to buy the LSDB1 version as well in order to give it pinpoint, popup, and moving target capability. LSDB1 is where a LJDAM seeker is added to the SDB1 body.

[Prinz_Eugn]

While SDB2 has a shaped charge, SDB1 is a kinetic penetrator type of case.

Here is the SDB2



Here is the SDB1

Neat, I could've sworn it also had a shaped-charge warhead, but I guess not!

[archeman]

While SDB2 has a shaped charge, SDB1 is a kinetic penetrator type of case.


Here is the SDB1

The Explosive Charge of the Penetrator must be relatively light material when you compare the Area that it fills compared to the Control components and then compare their relative weight.

[zerion]

USAF B61-12 nuclear bomb progressing towards qualification flight tests

The US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) and U.S. Air Force completed two qualification flight tests of B61-12 gravity bombs August 8 at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, the NNSA said on Aug. 28.

The non-nuclear test assemblies, which were dropped from an F-15E based at Nellis Air Force Base, evaluated the weapon’s non-nuclear functions and the aircraft’s capability to deliver the weapon.
These tests are part of a series over the next three years to qualify the B61-12 for service. The first qualification flight test occurred in March.

“The B61-12 life extension program is progressing on schedule to meet national security requirements,” said Phil Calbos, acting NNSA deputy administrator for Defense Programs. “These realistic flight qualification tests validate the design of the B61-12 when it comes to system performance.”

The flight test included hardware designed by Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, manufactured by the Nuclear Security Enterprise plants, and mated to the tail-kit assembly section, designed by the Boeing Company under contract with the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center.

The B61-12 consolidates and replaces four B61 bomb variants in the nation’s nuclear arsenal. The first production unit is scheduled to be completed by March 2020.

https://www.airrecognition.com/index.ph ... tests.html

[spazsinbad]

New Nuclear Gravity Bomb: General
01 May 2018 Oriana Pawlyk

"The U.S. Air Force has conducted dozens of developmental flight tests of the B61-12 guided nuclear gravity bomb, intended to be three times more accurate than its predecessors, a top general said Tuesday. "We've already conducted 26 engineering, development and guided flight tests," said Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein, deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration. "The program's doing extremely well."...

...Weinstein did not say which platforms have done the latest testing, but the F-35 Lightning II joint program office has been working on integrating the latest modification into its weapons arsenal. It is slated to be fielded sometime in the 2020s....

...The F-35 was designed with a requirement to carry a nuclear payload. In 2015, an F-35 flew with the B61-12 to measure its vibration in the aircraft's weapons bay...."

Source: https://www.military.com/dodbuzz/2018/0 ... neral.html

[zerion]

Pentagon Is Usually Mum About Nukes In Europe — But Touts F-35's Role

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — U.S. Strategic Command's chief touted the Lockheed Martin (LMT) F-35 as a deterrent in Europe, where the stealth fighter could slip into defended airspace with nuclear weapons.

The Pentagon's latest Nuclear Posture Review said the U.S. is committed to upgrading aircraft in Europe with F-35s capable of carrying nuclear weapons for a "continued regional deterrence stability and the assurance of allies."

At the Air Force Association's annual conference on Wednesday, Gen. John Hyten was asked about nuclear weapons and deterrence in Europe.

"We really don't talk a lot about nuclear capabilities inside the European theater, and I'm not going to talk a lot about it today," he said. "But just think about the difference the F-35 will make in our overall deterrent capability when that comes into Europe."

So-called fourth-generation fighters like the F-15 and F-16 can also carry nuclear weapons, but they aren't stealth planes and would be detected by air defenses. The more advanced fifth-generation F-35, however, can evade radar detection.

The Air Force has said its version of the F-35 is fully compatible with the new B61-12 nuclear bomb. It's planning for initial integration on the F-35A this year, Maj. Emily Grabowski, an Air Force spokesperson told Warrior Maven in March. The B61-12 could also be air launched by F-15 and F-16 fighters and is planned for use in Northrop Grumman's (NOC) forthcoming B-21 stealth bomber.

But the upgraded nuclear weapons, which include GPS, are still in testing and won't be produced until fiscal year 2020...

https://www.investors.com/news/nuclear- ... c-command/

[zerion]

America’s newest nuclear gravity bomb completes design review

WASHINGTON — The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb has completed its final design review, setting up production for March of 2020, the National Nuclear Security Administration has announced.

The B61-12 life-extension program consolidates and replaces the older B61-3, -4, -7 and -10 variants, in a move that proponents say will both update aging parts of the weapons and drive down upkeep costs. The review, which involved a team of 12 independent experts studying three years of data, certified that the B61-12 design meets Defense Department standards.

The weapon is certified for both the B-52 and B-2 bombers, America’s F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 fighter aircraft, and British and German Tornado aircraft under a NATO agreement. The F-35 is also planned to go through certification on the weapon at some point in the next decade...

https://www.defensenews.com/space/2018/ ... gn-review/

[landis]

The F-35 in the Second Nuclear Age
02 Mar 2017 Robbin Laird

"...The Current F-35 and Tactical Nuclear Weapons Approach
The F-35 is a block upgradeable aircraft; in the fourth block in the evolution of the aircraft, currently under design and testing, nuclear weapons delivery will be integrated onto the aircraft.

This design capability will be operational by 2018 but the testing and integration of the aircraft with the initial weapon to be carried on the aircraft will take longer.

Currently, only the F-35A is being considered for nuclear weapons delivery, although it would not take a great deal, to evolve the F-35C, the carrier-based F-35, to have this capability as well.

The head of the F-35 program, Lt. General Bogdan has argued that the F-35 will carry an update B-61 tactical nuclear weapon. The weapon is in development and its progress will determine when the integration actually occurs which then will be followed by testing and certification. According to Bogden: “We don’t see the marrying-up of our capability and that weapon until probably the mid-’20s, but it’s going to happen.”[3]

The Department of Energy is building the weapon itself and the Air Force is building the bomb’s tailkit.

The B-61-12 is a low yield weapon and can be delivered several miles from its target.

But all of that is part of the question of weapons design including the question of evolution beyond the B-61 itself.

Comb[in]ing an aircraft integrated sensors and target acquisition, and able to so in a passive sensing environment, with a low yield nuclear weapon clearly can introduce a new tool set into an integrated warfighting strategy appropriate to dealing with smaller nuclear powers, or deterring a power like Russia which has recently threatened the use of tactical nuclear weapons against NATO powers, notably in Northern Europe...."

Graphic: http://www.sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploa ... 02/B61.png

Source: http://www.sldinfo.com/the-f-35-in-the- ... clear-age/

Now the open source non classified internet says that the 'standoff' range of this weapon is around that of the other JDAM conventional bombs, so how is this going to attack a S-400+? How far can you lob a B-61? The Russians seem to be confident this is no threat. Deterrence is at stake here.

[marsavian]

In 2010 An F-22 hit a target 24 miles away at Mach 1.5 at 50kft using a JDAM. An S-400 radar is not going to spot a F-35 head on over 20 miles and probably more like 10-15.
Maybe there will be a glimpse when the door is open but then the bomb is on its way. Taking out the bomb itself in flight is their only real option.

http://www.f-16.net/f-22-news-article1840.html
https://www.upi.com/Business_News/Secur ... 164210418/

[SpudmanWP]

Have an MALD-J or two escort the JDAMS in