This aircraft, manufactured by General Dynamics, looks less like the traditional bomber and more like an air superiority fighter especially with a body shape that looks quite similar to that of the F-14, despite that fact that it predates it. The aircraft builds on the legacy of the B-58 and B-70, being supersonic and jet powered and manned by a relatively small crew. The aircraft could by its looks be considered the precursor to the B-1B Bone.
For the most part the layout of the aircraft and the air-frame, closely resemble a typical fighter, with the small canopied cockpit up front, a small fuselage with a minuscule internal bay, and subsequent engines and tail arrangement. Initial operation was in 1969, after the first flight in 1967, with production lasting from 1968 to 1971, 76 production aircraft being built, eventually being retired in 1991. The limited quantities produced were primarily on account of financial issues with the costs being too high.
Toward the very front we have the conical nose which is home to the terrain following and attack radar, which sits in front of the electronics bay. The terrain following radar is the primary avionics unit made by Texas Instruments. The attack radar is made by GE. Other instruments include a 25 optical display sight, bomb navigation system, with radar altimeter and Doppler radar.
The nose gives way to the beginnings of a wide fuselage which has the pilots sitting side by side not in tandem. The cockpit has a centre line rail that hinges the individual left and right canopies, with a gull-wing opening motion. This entire assembly that houses and ensconces the crew is part of an escape pod that is ejected in entirety by the use of a rocket, with the crew remaining within. The cockpit position does not allow for good rearward visibility but the forward visibility is good on account of the downward sloping nose. This entire pod sits a top the forward landing/nose gear.
Now just after the cockpit we have what looks like a LERX, however this is not that, it represents the beginning of what is known as “gloves” which form part of the system that helps to swing the wing. This entire wing arrangement is mounted high on the fuselage above the intakes for the turbofan engines.
The upper internal portion of the fuselage forward and rearward of the wings house the fuel tanks. This upper fuselage also has a re-fueling port for air-to-air refueling operations a plus for a bomber operating on long missions from land bases. The lower portion of the fuselage just after the nose landing gear, is the internal bomb bay, which is quite small with a volume of only 3.57m3. Though small the internal bay can hold up to 2 nuclear bombs or AGM short-range attack missiles.
The main and defining feature of this midsection and air-frame is the swing wing and the complex mechanism that swings it. The mechanism has a complicated design that had a titanium structure that has the ability to withstand the supersonic conditions. The wing has the ability to transition from angle of 16 deg. to a maximum of 72.5deg. This swing wing makes for efficient flying, with good lift at take off and landing at low speeds, with the wing fully deployed and high-speed flight with the wings fully swept. This wing also serves as a fuel tank. The swing wing has a total of 6 pylons, 3 per wing, for external mounting of weapons or fuel tanks. The inboard and centre pylons swivel with wing angle to minimise drag with the outermost designed for optimum flight at 26deg. of wing sweep, typically these outer pylons are only used for fuel tanks with them being jettisoned when empty. The other 4 pylons can carry any mix of nuclear, conventional or cluster bombs or fuel drop tanks.
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