Extensions of Remarks

24530 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS October 12, 1989 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS B-lB "HARD RIDE" PROVES TO of the general feeling on the flight line drove across the target, a preliminary report BE A THRILLING SUCCESS here. said. Air and ground crews were just short of Despite these problems, the crews put 76 euphoric about the performance of the big percent of their bombs on the target at an HON. DUNCAN HUNTER bomber as they finished the 8th Air Force's average distance from the center of 128 feet, OF CALIFORNIA nearly month long Mighty Warrior '89 exer Mosher said. This was accomplished even IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES cise. though the B-1's speed has cut the time for For the first time, they tested the ability Thursday, October 12, 1989 a bomb run from six or seven minutes to of large numbers of B-1Bs-attended by big two or three minutes, he said. Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I want to call to engined KC-135R Stratotankers-to com Ten years ago, that distance would have my colleagues' attention an excellent article plete a heavy combat schedule while flying from a bare-bones base and while isolated been a winning score; "now, it's average," regarding the 8-1 bomber that recently ap from much of their SAC home-base support, Mosher said. peared in the Air Force Times. This article said Col. Harvard L. Lomax, the wing com "The only reason it wasn't 100 percent clearly shows that the 8-1 can and is fulfilling mander. hits was because we were trying out a lot of its mission. I would encourage all my col To deploy to a fighter base, "as we would new techniques," said Maj. Glenn Pallazza, leagues to read this article and to support the to Europe ... was novel," said Maj. Jeff assistant chief of the offensive systems 8-1 bomber. Steig, tanker operations officer for the exer branch. cise. Squadron officers said the most embar [From the Air Force Times, Oct. 9, 1989] Mountain Home is a base for F-111s and rassing part' of the exercise was an experi B-1B "HARD RIDE" PROVES TO BE A EF-11ls. After the arrival of an advance ment to see how well crews could bomb by THRILLING SUCCESS party to set up tents, showers and other sight. Poor scores lowered the average and <By David Fulghum> basics, seven bombers, four tankers and showed the crews' attempts to judge the re MouNTAIN HoME AFB, IDAHo.-With dead about 400 people were deployed there for 12 lease point by sight was the worst bombing pan matter-of-factness, Maj. Robert W. days of intensive flying and conventional method available. Nicholson, Jr., described his feelings of bombing practice, he said. A factor in increasing accuracy is that the fleeting mortality as granite cliffs flashed After spraying to rid the area of black radar used for bombing is so sensitive that it by the porthole of his B-IB. widow spiders and ants, the camp settled can spot the corner posts in chainlink "I was thinking about staying alive," said into a routine broken only by a single case fences, said Capt. Kevin Heard, an OSO. the instructor defensive systems officer de of heat exhaustion. Entertainment was pro Such small checkpoints can be used as refer scribing a Sept. 21 flight during which his vided by busing camp members to university ence points for precisely locating targets, he crew-members of the 319th Bombardment football games and shopping trips to Boise, said. Wing from Grand Forks AFB, N.D.-flew Idaho; pingpong tournaments "if the wind While a B-52 can hit a hangar-sized the big bomber on "hard ride." wasn't bad"; and the chance for many-in' target, the phased-array radar on the B-1 Hard ride only recently has been approved cluding aircrews-to watch live B-1B bomb can accurately bomb something as small as for use by operational units after an exten ing for the first time. a trash bin, Heard said. The sensitivity re sive test program, wing officials said. The bomber force completed all 69 planned takeoffs on time and each crew sults from the radar creating an artificial Previously, "soft" and "medium" ride antenna a third of a mile long, he said. were used, which inflicted far less G force flew eight or nine sorties, said Col. Walter L. Mosher, the wing's deputy commander Moreover, it is a sensitivity that the eye on the aircrew but might make the aircraft stunned by movements of 1,000 feet per easier to track, they said. for maintenance. Moreover, it was all squeezed into a quar second-cannot match, Heard said. As the system has proved its reliability, The bombing improved as the exercise Strategic Air Command has removed restric ter of the normal training time, said Capt. Jeff Smith, a B-1 aircraft commander. progressed, and the last bomb dropped on a tions on its use, wing officials said. Sept. 21 mission to an airfield in "East Trusting the B-1B's terrain-following The schedule, which required a bomber to fly as often as four times in a single day, Slavia"-actually Tolicha Airfield on one of radar system to perform feats faster than the bombing ranges north of Nellis AFB, the eyes and hands of even the best pilots, was met despite damage to four engines, said Lt. Col. John Priecko, commander of Nev.-hit within nine feet of the target. they sizzled through a range of 5,000- to The bomb was dropped by Capt. Jerry 10,000-foot mountains at a constant distance the 46th Bombardment Squadron. Ice formed on air inlets, broke loose and Murphy, an instructor OSO who was as of less than 500 feet above the ground. signed to the planning staff but wheeled his With solid rock only an instant away at was sucked into the engines, causing damage, Priecko said. way onto a mission. After studying tapes of their 630 mph penetration speed, crew mem the other drops, he thought he saw a way to bers have developed tricks to lessen the ten The ice formed after several aircraft de sion, Nicholson said. Because only the pilot scended through layers of rain clouds that improve. and co-pilot can see when a precipitous drop began at 25,000 feet, Priecko said. If the Murphy is vague with outsiders about the is coming, they call out "pushover" before B-1s had been at low level, air friction exact process that gave him such extraordi they get to the top of a mountain or ridge, would have kept ice from forming, he said. nary accuracy. he said. Problems arose when the aircraft were de The OSO said he used different offsets as "It's too drastic if you <the defensive and scending at low speed, Priecko said. Sensors aiming points than the other OSOs did. offensive systems operators in back) don't to detect ice buildup missed some areas, he Squadron mates said he cranked a little know what is going on," Nicholson said. said, adding that improvements in the de " 'Kentucky windage' into the computer." In fact, low flight involves all four crew icing system are in the works. The result was a bomb dropped within a members, with the pilot and co-pilot calling The supporting tankers flew 58 sorties desk's length of where it was aimed. out the location of approaching mountains, missing only one takeoff-pumped 1.2 mil "I think we've started breaking the code" the offensive systems officer reporting their lion pounds of fuel, hauled 1,020 passen that will allow them to routinely bomb with heights and the DSO suggesting the best agers and provided the logistics train to such precision, Murphy said. way to fly around them, Nicholson said. Grand Forks to quickly provide needed Originally, B-1 crews started with B-52 Because of the attention-riveting aspects spare parts, Steig said. Stratofortresses and FB-111 bombing data, of low flight on hard ride in the B-1B and "Two years ago, we couldn't have done Priecko said. Now, practitioners such as the lack of room for error, Nicholson said, this," Priecko said. "We're on a roll." Murphy are learning the strengths and spe "there's no way I would <fly) in the air BOMBING WITH THE B-lB cial capabilities of the B-2, he said. craft" without complete trust in the system. Of the bombing sorties, four were The precision is so good, B-1 units "may While it is easy to find critics of the B-1B scrubbed for possible mechanical problems, pick up the role of destroying <single) build in the halls of Congress, Nicholson's obvious two because of thunderstorms in the range ings" instead of the area bombing done by enthusiasm was much more representative area and one because an unauthorized truck heavy bombers in the past, Nicholson said. e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. October 12, 1989 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 24531 "We're writing the book on <B-1) tactics," During recent exercises with Air National licked and aircrews are routinely flying said Capt. John Ballentine, operations offi Guard F-4 Phantom Us escorting B-1s, the their aircraft between 300 and 500 feet, even cer for Mighty Warrior.

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