Rockwell B-1B bombers are being cleared to fire newer-model countermeasure flares with no restrictions, but are still constrained to Mach 0.85, with no rolling or yawing, if using older flares. The flare firing envelope has been restricted since 1995, when aircraft began suffering tailstrike damage after dispensing countermeasures. The damage usually occurred when some of the aircraft's 96 1.5kg flare pellets were fired from dispensers behind the cockpit and hit the upper portion of the vertical tail.
Source: Flight International
