by Dale Brown
The best phrase to describe it was "deadly-looking." He had always used that term to describe his EB-52 Megafortress bomber, the experimental high-tech B-52 Stratofortress bomber that he had worked on and flown into combat for many years. With the Bone, however, that phrase really stuck. The EB-52 was a souped-up B-52 with a pointed nose and other aerodynamic enhancements, but it still had the bulk, the huge thick wings, and the presence of a big, lumbering bomber, the various enhancements worked very well, but they definitely looked "tacked on," retrofitted.
The B-l looked sleek and deadly because it had been designed that way from the beginning. Unlike the B-52s, nothing was hanging off the wings or the fuselage. All weapons were carried internally, and the wings were thin, supercritical airfoils that swept back for high-speed flight. From its long, pointed nose to its gracefully swept "lifting body" fuselage, to its thin wings, to its swept and pointed tail, it looked fast even sitting on the ground. But it was every bit as large as the EB-52, and it could do far more things.
The rising sun spilled over the Sierra Nevada and began to shine on the flight line, surrounding Patrick's Bone with golden light. It was then that he knew his future was going to be with this war machine. He had worked on many different high-tech planes and weapons at Dreamland, but none of them had the potential that the B-l had right now. He realized that he was looking at the new Megafortress.
Brad Elliott had created the EB-52 Megafortress. That was his legacy. This plane was going to be Patrick McLanahan's legacy.
He quickly rejoined his crew at the base of the one-story-tall nose landing gear, and Rinc Seaver began reviewing and briefing the Form 781 aircraft logbooks, going over any recent problems and making sure all the required sign-offs were there. Patrick met the crew chief and two assistant crew chiefs, remarking again to himself how young they were as well. The crew chief, Master Sergeant Chris Bowler, was a fifteen-year veteran, but his assistants, one buck sergeant and one staff sergeant, looked fresh out of tech school. In reality, they had twenty-five years of B-lB experience between them.
The first order of business after reviewing the 781 and briefing the crew chiefs was a "FOD walk," where the flight and ground crews walked out from the wheels along the Bone's taxi path to check for anything on the ground that might get sucked up into the engines when they taxied. Every bit of the aircraft parking ramp was meticulously swept and checked for FOD twenty-four hours a day, and the chance that the flight crew, who were busy mentally preparing for their upcoming mission, would actually find anything on the concrete was fairly remote.
But this was a "crew" thing, something the crews did together for their bird. The aircraft "belonged" to the crew chiefs until the aircraft commander signed the 781, at which point the aircraft "belonged" to the flight crew until the crew chief signed the 781 after the maintenance debrief and took control of it again. The FOD walk was a kind of symbolic act, something they did together for the mutual benefit of "their" war machine. For a brief period of time, they were not officers or enlisted personnel, not fliers or ground-pounders-they were Aces High.
Once they parted after the FOD walk, shaking hands, giving high fives, flashing their squadron "gang sign" at each other-three fingers jammed downward in a dunking motion, signifying the 111th-and shouting their squadron motto, "Aces High: Penetrate, Decimate, and Dominate," they became "flight" crew members and "ground" crew members again. But the bond between them would never be broken.
Patrick followed the crew offensive systems officer, or "O," John Long, as he did a preflight of the Bone's three weapon bays. As briefed, the bomber was fully loaded. It was as exciting for Patrick to be out here now, preflighting a bomb bay filled with live weapons, as it was years ago when he was the bombardier in charge of all the explosive power in the B-52 Stratofortress and later in the EB-52 Megafortress.
Long counted the bombs in the forward bomb bay. "Twenty-eight Mark 82 AIRs, ready to go," he said. The bottom of the bomb bay was ten feet overhead, so there was nothing for him to do but count the weapons and check for any obvious malfunctions or damage.
The five-hundred-pound Mk82 was the second smallest high-explosive bomb carried by the Air Force and the smallest weapon carried by the B-l. Its basic design hadn't changed since the 1950s; in fact, many of the more than one million Mk80-class weapons still in the inventory were leftovers from the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. The Bone's Mk82 AIRs (air-inflatable retarded) were modified for low-altitude delivery with the BSU-49/B Ballute tail unit, which was an air-inflatable mushroom-looking canvas parachute that would slow the bomb down enough to allow the bomber to escape the detonation and blast effects without damaging itself.
The weapons were loaded onto slanting racks in a confused-looking array, with bombs tightly stacked atop one another. It seemed impossible that those racks could fold and flip out of the way before the bombs above them released, Patrick thought. Twenty-eight five-hundred-pound bombs safely leaving the bomb bay, separated by only one-fifth of a second. Amazing. He knew precisely how they worked, of course-but studying the engineering on paper was much different from actually seeing the bomb bay jammed with more than five tons of explosive power.
"These are my babies here," John Long said proudly as they reached the center, or intermediate, bomb bay. This bay held a rotary launcher loaded with eight inert two-thousand-pound GBU-32 JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) guided gravity bombs, the deadliest nonnuclear weapon in the Bone's arsenal.
Although radar level bombing from the B-l had always been very accurate, JDAM gave the Block D Bone its only near-precision bombing capability. Target coordinates were fed to a global positioning satellite/inertial navigation system computer strapped onto each bomb, either by manually entering the geographical coordinates by computer keyboard or by feeding the coordinates from the Bone's bombing computers and attack radar. When the bomb was released, it would steer itself to the target coordinates, using movable control surfaces on its tail. The Bone's rotary launcher could spit out eight JDAMs in a little over sixty seconds.
Using only its strap-down inertial navigation system, JDAM was normally accurate to within two hundred feet, even if released from an altitude of thirty thousand feet. But if the bomb could lock onto at least three GPS navigation satellites as it fell, its accuracy increased to sixty feet. If it locked onto eight satellites for at least seven seconds, which it could do if released from high altitude, the bomb's accuracy increased to less than twenty feet-and with a two-thousand-pound bomb, that was guaranteed to wipe out any target smaller than a three-story house.
What's more, the bomb could glide as far as fifteen miles if released from high altitude, so it was not necessary to release it at a specific point in space. That meant that the B-l could fly anywhere within a fifteen-mile diameter "basket," from any direction and at any speed, and start pumping out JDAMs as fast as the rotary launcher could go-and each bomb would automatically find its own target, even if the target was behind it. On a large target complex such as an airfield, military base, city, or weapons storage area, eight different targets could be attacked on the same bomb run by one bomber within sixty seconds, with accuracy second only to laser- or TV-guided bombs or missiles, day or night, in any weather or battlefield conditions.
"You like JDAM, do you, Colonel?" Patrick asked.
"If it wasn't for JDAM, I think we'd be out of business," Long replied. "Every other attack plane in the inventory except the Bone and the B-2 stealth bomber has a precision-guided bombing capability-even the lousy little F-16 can launch Maverick missiles. Even with all its payload, range, and speed advantages, what good would a Bone be if it took three bombs to destroy a target that one bomb from an F-15E or F-117 stealth fighter could destroy? With JDAM, we come close to pinpoint bombing accuracy without having to use a datalink, forward-looking infrared, or laser."
Patrick nodded, appearing to agree-though it was all he could do to keep quiet. The Joint Direct Attack Munition was indeed a good weapon. It was cheap, it worked w
ell, and it modernized the huge supply of one- and two-thousand-pound bombs still in the inventory. But there were a dozen next-generation weapons available for the B-1B bomber, and at least another dozen weapons Patrick and his teams at Dreamland were working on, third- and fourth- and fifth-generation stuff, that made JDAM seem as effective as cavemen throwing rocks. Patrick only wished he could tell this young bombardier about the innovations they were about to unleash.
They moved to the aft bomb bay, which was loaded with ten CBU-87/B GEM (Combined Effects Munition) dispensers. This was the primary wide-area anti-armor and antipersonnel bomblet used by the Bone. Each dispenser carried over two hundred two-pound bomblets. When released, the dispenser would spin rapidly, scattering BLU-97 bomblets over a wide oval-shaped area. The bomblets would float down on a tiny inflatable parachute, then detonate at a preselected altitude above ground.
The kill-and-hurt pattern of this tiny two-pound bomblet was enormous. A shaped charge warhead, capable of penetrating four inches of steel, would shoot straight down, designed to cut through the light armor atop a tank or armored vehicle. At the same instant, a hundred tiny steel fragments would shoot outward, capable of shredding light vehicles within fifty yards and injuring soldiers over a hundred yards away. Finally, a ring of sponge zirconium would ignite, scattering burning pieces of white-hot metal over two hundred yards away and igniting brush, fuel, buildings-or humans with ease. One CBU-87 could cut a swath of death and destruction the size of eight football fields.
After Long completed his inspection, they climbed up the steep ladder behind the tall nose landing gear into the crew compartment. Patrick followed right behind. He had to keep from grinning like a kid stepping onto a roller coaster. He couldn't believe how excited he felt. After all the bomber missions he'd flown-why?
Go with it, he told himself, and he broke out into a big shit-eating grin. It was exciting because it is exciting. It felt fun because it is fun! Yes, it was dangerous. Yes, this crew had a mission to accomplish, and Patrick was their judge, their jury-and, in a very real sense, their executioner. But they were also going to fly one of the deadliest planes in the world and drop enough real live no-shit high-explosive material to wipe out an entire brigade of enemy armor. It was the ultimate job, the ultimate game, the ultimate kick in the pants.
Savor it, Patrick told himself. For once, forget about the responsibility and the mission and savor the excitement you are about to experience.
Despite the fact that the B-1B was over 140 feet long and its max gross weight exceeded 230 tons, there was just enough room inside for four crew members in ejection seats plus a little storage space. Rinc stowed his jacket in a cubbyhole above the entry tunnel and his gear in a little step built behind the center console, preflighted his ejection seat to make sure it was safetied, then sat down and began running his power-off and before-APU-start checklists.
Patrick stuffed his jacket in the "bunk" behind the copilot's seat, his helmet bag of extra booklets and "plastic brains" in the space beside his seat, then preflighted his seat. He checked that the four seat safety pins were in place, the ejection handle lock was down, and the ejection mode switch was in MANUAL, meaning that if either pilot's seat malfunctioned or was inadvertently activated, it wouldn't automatically eject anyone else's seat. Then he climbed in and started strapping in.
The last bomber he had any time in at all was the EB-52 Megafortress-and that was cavernous compared to the B-l cockpit. Patrick was unaccustomed to wearing a big, bulky survival vest, and threading all the seat straps around it and finding the right clips and fasteners was harder than he expected. You didn't just sit in a B-l bomber-you wore it. He had to leave the shoulder straps as loose as he could and push his arm with his opposite hand to reach switches. Even adjusting the seat took a few moments to relearn.
"How're you doing over there, sir?" Rinc asked, a trace of amusement on his lips. "Finding everything okay?"
Patrick felt a bit self-conscious as he finally got straightened around and settled in. He wrapped the Velcro strap of his checklist around his left thigh, a small metal kneeboard around his right thigh, and opened the checklist to the "Before APU Start" checklist page. He capped it off by slipping on a new pair of Nomex flight gloves, working the fingers down tight, then punching a fist into his palm excitedly, just as he used to do before starting engines years ago as a young crewpuppy. "I'm doing fine, Major," Patrick replied. "Don't be afraid to kick my butt if I'm not keeping up with you."
"You're doing fine so far," Rinc said. "It took me three tries to find all my harness straps without help."
The first order of business was starting the APU, or auxiliary power unit. The APU was a fifth small self-contained jet engine, mounted in the B-l's tail, which provided electrical, hydraulic, and pneumatic power to the aircraft without starting one of the big turbofans or relying on external power carts. With the APU, the Bone was completely self-sufficient-it did not need ground power equipment for any flight-line operations. Once the B-l's APU was started and supplying electrical power, the crew started to turn on their equipment and run power-on and before-engine-start checklists. At precisely the briefed time, the crew began the engine start and after-engine-start checklists. It took only a few moments to get all four engines running.
Things happened quickly after that. The pilots ran a series of checklists, testing every system, backup system, and function aboard their plane. The TACAN radio receiver was not passing its self-test, but the avionics maintenance "Red Ball" team had a spare part out to the aircraft and installed in record time. They certainly could've launched without a TACAN receiver-with all the sophisticated inertial and satellite navigation gear on board, the old TACAN was seldom used except on precision instrument approaches-but it was a required piece of equipment. Furness's flight checked in precisely at the prebriefed time. Patrick copied the mission clearance and command post clearance, then began to taxi out.
Except for a sudden brief loss of the nosewheel steering system in Rinc's plane, which was corrected immediately by recycling the system, the flight taxied out without incident. A large crowd of onlookers was up on the roof of both commercial airline terminal buildings at Reno-Tahoe International, watching the two-ship of B-1B bombers taxiing out for takeoff. All the commercial flights had been cleared onto the parallel runway to make way for the military flights, but several stopped to watch the Bones parade by. Almost everyone based at Reno International knew that the 111th Bomb Squadron was getting some sort of evaluation, and a few knew that these planes carried live weapons, so they recognized that this was something special.
They received a "last chance" inspection at the end of the runway by the supervisor of flying behind the steel revetments in the runway hammerhead. "Looks like you got a nick in the left nosewheel tire, Rodeo," the SOF radioed via the maintenance officer's intercom cord. "Must've happened when your nosewheel steering cut out."
"Any cords showing?" Rinc asked.
"I see two cord belts."
"Shit," Rinc muttered. That meant an abort to change the tire. A Bone near max gross weight with a bald spot on a nose gear tire was not a good place to be. "Screw it. We'll take it."
"You sure about that?" Patrick asked.
"The book says we can take up to three cords-"
"But at gross weight?"
"It doesn't give a gross weight restriction, sir," Seaver pressed. "Besides, we're forty thousand under gross right now. Three cords peacetime, five cords wartime. We can probably get a waiver for five. We should-"
"We're going off station to a forward-deployment base that probably won't have the gear we need to change tires," Patrick said. "Better to get it changed now rather than take a broken bird to a forward barebase."
"This is our pre-D launch, General-we're talking about Probability to Launch and Survive points," Rinc emphasized. "PLS isn't a factor once we get to our deployment base. But if we lose PLS points due to a late launch, we get hammered. We'll be okay with two cords missing. You
should know that the tires have twelve cord belts, and even with five gone we've got a wide safety margin. We're still legal. Let's get the hell outta here and go drop some iron." Patrick hesitated. Seaver added irritably, "Unless you're going to order me to get it changed."
"You're the boss," Patrick said.
"SOF, I'm taking the plane," Rinc said, nodding to his guest copilot. "Finish up and clear the runway for launch."
"Roger dodger, Rodeo," the SOF said. He finished his drive-arounds and found nothing else wrong with any of the planes. "Aces Two-Zero flight, pins and streamers pulled, doors closed, and you appear to be in takeoff configuration. Penetrate, decimate, and dominate. SOF is clear. Break. Reno tower, Aces SOF, clear me on three-four left for a last-chance runway inspection."
"Aces SOF, Reno tower, clear on three-four left, report when off." The SOF sped down the runway, making a last inspection for anything that might cause damage to the Bones during takeoff. Once the SOF cleared off the runway, it was time for departure.
Patrick had forgotten what a takeoff in the B-1B was like. He had flown lots of different aircraft, including supersonic bombers, but there was something different about the raw power meshed with the physical size of the Bone that made takeoffs even more spectacular in this plane than in any other.
As soon as Rebecca Furness in Aces Two-Zero started rolling, Rinc Seaver lined up on centerline, locked the brakes using his toes on top of the rudder pedals, then started to feed in power. The sound was muted, silky smooth, with no trace of rattle or "burping" as in the G-model B-52s Patrick used to fly. Rinc moved the throttles up to military power, paused to let all four engines stabilize, then cracked the throttles into afterburner range. He watched as the eight afterburner initiator lights illuminated, then released brakes and pushed the throttles to max AB.