Top US Air Force officials have highlighted plans to revitalise the service's long-range strike capability with a family-of-systems approach anchored by the development of an affordable, penetrating bomber.

Two speeches by secretary of the air force Michael Donley and chief of staff Gen Norton Schwartz sought to re-establish long-range strike as a new priority, 18 months after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates cancelled the next generation bomber (NGB) programme.

But details of the new approach are slim. USAF and Department of Defense officials are still finalising plans and funding for the long-range strike capability. The results is likely to be published in the next budget plan released in early February 2011. Gates's staff is meanwhile evaluating "how far we've come in the 18 months since NGB was terminated", Donley says.

Adding intellectual heft to the USAF's campaign is a new report on long-range strike by the Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), released on 14 September.

The report recommends the USAF develop and buy 100 penetrating bombers with all-aspect, broadband stealth; a 9,070kg (20,000lb) payload; unrefuelled range of up to 5,000nm (9,260km) and the ability to carry nuclear weapons.

The bomber would not be a standalone asset, but operate within a family of systems that include a carrier-based surveillance and strike aircraft, an airborne electronic attack fleet and high-speed, stand-off cruise missiles.

The CSBA's vision for the penetrating bomber mirrors the outlines of the development strategy described by Schwartz.

Compared with previous visions of the Northrop Grumman B-2's successor, Schwartz calls the new concept "a bit more modest". Rather than equip the aircraft to independently perform all of the functions needed to identify and strike a target, it will rely on offboard platforms for support, he says.

"For this new platform, we are unlikely to be able to afford a lone-wolf," Schwartz says.

The USAF's long-term budget for the bomber remains in negotiation. However, Schwartz notes that the service has allocated $1.7 billion over the next five years already to fund basic technologies, such as new apertures and waveforms that would support any platform that is eventually selected.

Source: Flight International