Aerospace

Plans for Pentagon's Future Flying Bomb Truck Begin to Take Shape

Defense Department officials may select a bomber already in the Air Force's inventory to become its munitions-packed "arsenal plane," Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, said Tuesday.

Roper told reporters in Washington, D.C. that the service has a vision for its current bomber fleet, which constitutes turning the bomber force -- the B-52 Stratofortress, B-1 Lancer or B-2 Spirit -- into "something else" in the future.

Hypothetically, a B-52 loaded with multiple hypersonic weapons can evolve from its standard function into a "missileer," Roper said.

The acquisition chief said the service has been working with the Air Force Global Strike Command on hypersonic weapons tests on the B-52. The Air Force in June flew its first test flight of the AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon, a hypersonic weapon known as ARRW (pronounced "Arrow").