Air force sends secret specs for new bomber to same old contractors

The B-2 Spirit was so expensive that its production run was cut. Now the Air Force is looking for a new bomber that will come in at a quarter of the B-2's pricetag.

US Air Force

The US Air Force has kicked off the competition that will determine who will build the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B), a next-generation aircraft intended to replace the venerable B-52 bomber and the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. This week, the Air Force sent requirements to industry for the program. Its goal is picking a winning design by spring of 2015.

The requirements were largely classified, but the mission isn't very secret. The Air Force has been driving the development of a new bomber around the mission of defending against the Chinese navy, based on a demonstration in 2004 that echoed Gen. Billy Mitchell's demonstration of the superiority of air power in 1921.

The 2004 bombing and sinking of the ex-USS Schenectady by a B-52, using laser-guided ordnance, after it was deliberately set adrift off Hawaii. The ship was found and targeted using sensors aboard the bomber, demonstrating how long-range bombers could be used in maritime strike.

Just like the Army and Marine Corps planes' sinking of the "unsinkable" German battleship Ostfriesland was intended to demonstrate the vulnerability of ships to bomber planes—and to shore up the budget for the then-shrinking Army Air Corps—the location and bombing of the former USS Schenectady off Hawaii was intended to demonstrate the role the Air Force could play in defending the Pacific against the growing threat of Chinese naval power. The role could include launching from bases out of range from China's "carrier-killer" anti-ship ballistic missiles and other long-range tactical weapons. The Air Force has been pushing for a plane built for that type of mission ever since, desiring a bomber capable of evading detection by the Chinese and striking at targets at sea.

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