The US Air Force is testing a new weapons pylon on the Boeing B-1B bomber that will enable aircraft to carry a broader range of weapons.
The Boeing-designed Load Adaptable Modular pylon (LAM) allows the B-1B to carry several types of heavy weapons under its forward fuselage, according to the USAF.
LAM is initially intended for the B-1B but can be adapted for other aircraft. It has flown attached to a B-1B test aircraft serving with the 419th Flight Test Sqn.
“The B-1 LAM pylon is going to be used to carry a variety of different weapons and weapons configurations on the external pylons of the B-1,” says USAF Lt. Col Scott Pontzer.
“That will enable weapons delivery and testing in a variety of different configurations and to include new weapons release profiles.”
The USAF does not state how many LAM pylons a B-1B could carry. Footage of LAM tests show the pylon mounted forward of the jet’s centre of gravity on the right-side of the fuselage.
The LAM weights 1,000lb and can carrier weapons that weigh more than 5,000-6,000lb.
Prior to LAM flight testing, Boeing engineers conducted extensive simulations and ground tests. This work included weapons interface testing, ground vibration tests, and “box drops” where a weapon is released from an aircraft on the ground, landing in a container of foam blocks.
Footage provided by the USAF shows the LAM carrying a large Joint Direct Attack Munition.
Future weapons the LAM could carry are likely to include hypersonic weapons.
In 2020, the USAF conducted tests where a B-1B carried an AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface-Standoff Missile externally, with the pylon located in the same position as the LAM.
At that time, General Tim Ray, head of USAF Global Strike Command, had this to say about the B-1: “Adapting a small number of our healthiest B-1s to carry hypersonic weapons is vital to bridge between the bomber force we have today, to the force of tomorrow.”
