Flying the B-1B "Bone" (we
NEVER call it "Lancer"...)
ABOUT ME
First, a little bit about me. I used to fly B-1s as a WSO at Dyess AFB, TX until about five years ago. I attended the Defense Language Institute to learn Korean and then attended the Korean Air Force Staff College as an exchange student. I'm currently doing a staff job in Korea on a US Air Force base and I expect I'll be back flying B-1s in about a year (~2011). As such I have updated this portion of my website in quite a while but I plan to pick up back up when I return to flying as there have been many changes in the hardware of the B-1 and how it's used.
Anyways, the Bone carries two Weapon Systems officers. One mans the Offensive Systems Officer (OSO) seat while the other sits in the Defensive Systems Officer (DSO) seat. Which seat you sit in on a given sort depends on the training you need and often times we would swap mid-flight. The OSO is responsible for navigation, operating the radar (to find other aircraft, find ground targets, avoid thunderstorms, etc.), and employing the weapons. As such, he or she is kind of the quarterback on the jet as they control timing, where we go, and ultimately, weapons release. The Bone carries a multitude of different weapons, each with their own employment parameters. This can get kind of complicated to manage, however, it one follows their checklist, things usually turn out OK.
The DSO's job is to defend the jet against any threat. He has equipment that shows the signals environment in terms of what radars are looking at the jet. He then uses this to put jamming on those radars that are a threat to the aircraft. Additionally, he has a towed decoy (attracts missiles to it instead of the jet), flares (distracts heat-seeking missiles), and chaff (metallized fibers which create a momentary false radar target) to use against missiles. The DSO also backs up navigation, operates CITS (Central Integrated Test System, a computer which shows problems with the jet; a very much more advanced and complicated version of the dummy lights in your car), operates the HF radio, and does the post-mission paperwork (yuck!).
Most WSOs prefer to sit in the OSO position. Dropping bombs is viewed as cooler than electrons plus you get instant feedback from your bomb scores, whereas realistic jamming training is hard to come by. Furthermore, the OSO seat is more science and the DSO seat is more art. Being a good DSO requires memorization of lots of radar parametrics (frequency, PRF, etc.), awesome situation awareness, and a kind of a sixth sense of how to react to a threat. There are not checklists for threat reaction as each scenario is different. The OSO seat is very checklist driven and if you follow your procedures, things usually go well. It's kinda of like the different being a cook and a chef. The cook (OSO) simply follows the recipe and the meal is made, but the chef (DSO) has to vary the ingredients to get the meal just right. Myself, I like sitting in the DSO seat better.
Though we WSOs are tempted to write the pilots off as mere chauffeurs, how well they perform up front has a tremendous impact on our success in the aft station. I can do everything right as an OSO but if the pilot's don't place the jet precisely on the right heading for bomb release, the bombs won't hit. Also, their visual look out can aid the DSO tremendously in defeating threats. However, this doesn't stop us WSOs from mercilessly cutting down the new copilots whenever we have the chance...
TYPICAL SORTIE
OK,
now that you've waded through all that, let's talk about what you really want to
know. What's it like to the Bone. Well, it's a lot of fun but also a
lot of work. A lot of people are under the impression that the aircrews
just show up and fly. Wrong. We've spent the day before preparing
the mission and it usually takes all day to plan a complicated profile. A
good plan is absolutely essential to make the flight worthwhile. We have
very specific training objectives on each sortie to further our skills and this
takes a lot of planning. We aren't just flying around having fun at the
taxpayer's expense.
A training sortie lasts about 3-5 hours more or less can be
broken down into several phases. The first phase is start-up followed by
departure, high level cruise, low altitude flight, attack, electronic attack,
and arrival. I'll explain these in detail.
We get to the jet about 1.5 hours before our scheduled takeoff. The crew talks to the maintainers about the status of the jet (problem it's had, how much fuel is onboard, etc.) and then does a quick walk around inspection. This is done to double check critical items on the jet, though I've never found anything bad on these walk-arounds as our maintainers do a phenomenal job. Once inside, the pilots power up the jet and the WSOs load up the mission computers. After that, the pilots start the engines. From there it can take up to 45 minutes to be ready to takeoff (though we can do it faster if we have to). We check all the systems on the airplane to assess their readiness for flight and continue loading the computers. Aligning the INS (inertial navigation system) takes about 45 minutes in itself and that's the OSO's job. Basically, you have to tell it where it's at now so it can figure out where it's going. Then we taxi and takeoff. The Bone doesn't have the acceleration of a fighter but it does have a lot more pickup than an airliner. When we takeoff, the engines are producing about 120,000lb of thrust and it makes quite a racket...
Me
flying over Destin, Florida during a JDAM weapons test. Official USAF
Photo
Since we don't do
any training at Dyess itself, we have to fly to an area where we can
train. Typically with we go to a low level route or a MOA (Military
Operating Area, a large chunk of airspace set aside for military
training). The usual MOAs we go to are an hour away so we climb up to
about 20,000 feet, set the wings to 15 degrees, and cruise to the area at about
440 knots.
Our standard low level route is IR-178 which starts near El
Paso, Texas, follows the border southeast, and then ends in the area of Pecos,
Texas. I've done that route so many times I could do it in my sleep if I
had to. Recently, the Air Force has moved radar signal simulators to the
route so we get more realistic training now.
We usually go to an electronic attack site as
well. These are scattered around the US and are often co-located with a
MOA, restricted bombing range, or low level route. By simulating enemy
radars, the site provides the DSO with a realistic signals environment. He
can practice signal ambiguity resolution (telling one radar from another),
threat calls, and threat reaction/maneuvers.
To drop weapons, be they live or concrete dummy bombs, we
have to travel to a restricted bombing range. We usually go to either
Smoky Hill range in Kansas or Melrose in New Mexico. However, we can only
drop dummy practice bombs there so to drop live, real bombs we go to the Utah
Test and Training Range. That's my favorite place to train as it's huge,
has a very good electronic attack site, lots of good targets, and we can go
supersonic at low altitude there but it's a two hour flight from Dyess and it's
always busy and hard to get time in there. Incidentally, I got my callsign
"PBAR (Practice Bomb Adapter Rack) from my first flight with my current
squadron while dropping BDU-33 mini practice bombs at Smoky Hill. The PBAR
enables us to carry the mini practice bomb on our normal bomb racks.
During that flight, one fell off my jet when it wasn't supposed to.
Therefore, I was stuck with "PBAR". The PBAR was later found in
a farmer's field and now is our weapons load training facility as a load
trainer, the side caved in and all...
After we accomplish our activities, usually a low level and
some EA plus air refueling, we return home. This is the WSO's least
favorite part of the flight- pattern work. The pilots practice numerous
approaches and touch-and-go landings. It's quite boring in the back just
watching the altimeter to make sure the pilot stands on his assigned
altitude. WSOs always like it when we come back and do one approach and
stop....
LOW LEVEL 
this
was taken at 1000' AGL so I'm in compliance with the reg... :)
I remember
my first low level flying in the back of the turboprop T-34C Turbomentor at Nav
School. We were going only 150 kts but it seemed really fast and I could
barely keep up with my duties. Later, we flew low levels at 300 kts in
T-1As and T-39Ns and that seemed ungodly fast. I still recall my first
Bone low level going 540 kts (~960 feet per second!). Now that's
fast! After a while, though, you get used to and you glance outside and
see the ground rushing by and think, "wow, that's cool!" and then go
right back to your duties with no more thought than walking outside to get the
mail. Flying over water at low altitude increases the sensation of speed
by a factor of two. The first time I did that I was blown away as it
really gave me the sensation of speed... The above picture was taken at
2000 feet doing 540 kts. We can go down to 300' day/500' night during
training though the Terrain Following set will go as low as 200' in any weather,
day or night, completely automatically without the pilots touching the
stick. It does get a little more tense during night TF. When I'm
sitting in the OSO during a night TF I'm much more diligent about clearing
terrain with the radar and calling it out to the pilots. They fly with
Night Vision Goggles but those give no depth perception, so we must rely on the
TF set and clearing terrain with the interleaved ground map mode of the
radar. Most Bone aircrew enjoy low level flying immensely, however it is
of limited tactical value and fatiguing on the airframe.
DROPPING 
BOMBS
Dropping bombs is
very challenging and immensely reward when you get a good score. Dropping
bombs is, afterall, the raison d'etre of the Bone's existence. During the
course of normal training we very, very rarely get to drop real, explosive
filled bombs as they are expensive and require special ranges to be used.
Our typical practice bombs are the BDU-33, a 25 lb mini bomb with a spotting
charge, and the BDU-50 which is a concrete filled version of the standard Mk-82
500lb high explosive weapon. Bombing accuracy depends on a whole host of
factors most of which the OSO can't control. For example, he can't control
the weapons, location error in the given target coordinates, pitchdown as the
weapon enters the airstream, etc. However, he can properly manage his INS
(aided by GPS) to make sure the aircraft has located itself precisely and he can
place the radar crosshairs on the target precisely. Some of our weapons
are more accurate than others. The BDU-33 is very inaccurate and getting a
hit with that is more due to luck than skill. The MK-82 is somewhat
accurate (considering it's released by us straight-and-level rather than in a
dive like a fighter). The Mk-84 is very accurate, the ballistics loaded
into our software are dead-on it seems. Of course, our preferred weapon is
the GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), a INS guided, GPS aided, 2000lb
high explosive weapon. This has great precision because it's guided after
release.
I won't go into the litany of weapons we carry as that's
available else where. I will say that you can actually feel the weapon
separate off the rack. There are two "shotgun shells" that push
the weapon away from the weapon ensure it gets proper separation and you can
feel a definite thunk with the Mk-82/BDU-50. Drop them in multiples and
the whole jet shakes like you were driving over railroad tracks. This is
amazing to me considering the jet weighs about ~350-440,000 lbs at that point
and only 500lbs at a time is leaving. With the Mk-84/GBU-31, they are
mounted on a rotary launcher. The whole jet sort of twists when the
launcher rotates. You can feel the forward and intermediate bay rotations
but not the aft most bay as it's too far back. When a 2000lb weapon leaves
it gives more of a thunk...
As for my feelings about dropping bombs, well, I figure if
I'm dropping on someone, they did something to deserve it (like run planes into
the Pentagon/Twin Towers). I have dropped JDAMs in combat and I don't feel
any remorse about doing so. They had it coming in my opinion...
AIR-TO-AIR TRAINING
Occasionally we get the opportunity to train against other aircraft, more specifically fighters. This usually great fun because we get to pit our skills against other highly skilled aviators. Last year I was fortunate to go to Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV a couple of times to act as an adversary (simulated threat) for students of the USAF Weapons School (highly selective doctorate-level program to make you an expert in your jet). Most of the time we get killed before we reach the target, but occasionally we manage to sneak our way in and cause the students to fail their flight. However, even when we get to the target, we almost always get killed soon after coming off target. This is as it should be as our fighter bubbas are really good. One time my crew and I got shot down about a 1/4 mile from the target and we tried to argue that our flaming debris (and the bombs we were simulating carrying) would have splashed all over the target anyways, but they didn't buy it. :) The highlight of my trips to Vegas was when we were sent up against a four ship of F-15Cs being flown by 4 Weapons School Instructors. Now, F-15C W.S. instructors are probably the best air-to-air fighter pilots in the world given how much they concentrate on it. We thought we were doomed. Nonetheless, we pushed out and to our surprise our student F-16 escorts kept the F-15s so busy we were able to reach the target, bomb it, and run back to the safe line. That was way cool to see the mighty humbled, especially by F-16s whom they usually look down their noses at. I just remember coming off target, turning, and feeling all four blowers kick in as we ran for the safe line. My pilots were really whipping the horses that day. For my part, I was sitting in the DSO seat, so I started jamming any fighter radar I could find. I figured "screw it, the F-16s have done their part, they don't need a radar now." I probably committed some electronic fratricide but hey, we lived that day. Obviously I wouldn't do that in wartime though.
WHAT WE BRING TO THE FIGHT
It would be false to
view the USAF's trio of bombers as all the same, as competitive with each
other. Rather, each brings a unique facet of capabilities to our airpower
mix. The B-2A has stealth and can be used to kick in the door in a highly
defended area for other, less stealthy aircraft. The B-52 has awesome
range and tremendous variety of weapons at its disposal, especially cruise
missiles. However, neither of those aircraft has the speed to fly in a
package of fighters, relying on them for mutual support. Neither of those
aircraft practice low-level flying to the extent we do. Furthermore, we
carry a greater bomb load than either of those. If someone develops a
counter to stealth, then the B-2A doesn't have the speed to fly in a package nor
does the B-52 and it must rely in standoff weapons in highly defended
areas. The Bone is our fallback as it can rely on the tried and true
tactic of mutual package support with F-15Cs, F-15Es, F-16CJ, EA-6Bs, etc.
Nonetheless, each bomber is a valuable asset and none is less valuable than the
others (at least in terms of usefulness, but certainly not cost).
As the recent war in Iraq proved, the B-1's real forte is
time sensitive targeting. Time sensitive targeting involves rapidly
retargeting an aircraft and its weapons inflight to hit emerging targets such as
SCUDs, tank columns, leadership targets (i.e. the Saddam restaurant incident),
etc. The Bone excels at this because we carry a large payload (usually 24
all-weather near-precision 2000lb JDAMs), have a large fuel load for long loiter
or long range, high dash speed to get to a new target, a four person crew to
manage the jet (it's significant that the Bone hasn't had any friendly fire
incidents and this is due to the fact that we can quadruple check things in the
jet with four dudes), an excellent Moving Target Indicator/Track mode of the
radar, and an excellent defensive suite. The Bone has become the weapon of
choice for TST and we did quite a bit of CAS (Close Air Support) too. Now,
if we only had an infrared targeting pod such as the Litening II or something
we'd be the 900lb gorilla of TST. With a targeting pod, we could
precisely positively ID our targets. As it is now, any vehicle we see on
radar, we can't tell if it's a tank or a bus full of nuns. Coordination
with other platforms to affect the ID eats up valuable time.
