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US Military Working On 'Optionally-Manned' Bomber

Posted by Soulskill on from the contract-paid-by-skynet dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Despite massive budget deficits, the U.S. military is working towards a stealthy and 'optionally-manned' bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The craft is intended to replace the 1960s B-52, 1970s B-1 and 1990s B-2 bombers. The new aircraft is meant to be a big part of the U.S. 'pivot' to the Pacific. With China sporting anti-ship weapons that could sink U.S. carriers from a distance, a new bomber is now a top priority."

3 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. Cost? Hah. by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 3, Funny

    FTFA:

    Then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates suspended the bomber development in 2009, citing out-of-control cost and technical ambition.

    Soon thereafter, current Secretary Leon Panetta gave the relevant committee members a few good, hard slaps, and they all woke up, shuddered, and went back to shoveling money into the bottomless maw.

  2. Good Lord by Stargoat · · Score: 1, Funny

    Good Lord, now that China has developed 3rd generational warfare capabilities, we might need to redevelop some of the tools we used to defeat the Soviet Union, which was also using 3rd generational warfare capabilities. Oh wait......

    Dumb.

    --
    Hoist Number One and Number Six.
  3. Re:Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove? by similar_name · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.