The B-1B Was Designed to Drop Nuclear Bombs on Russia — After 9/11 It Dropped 40% of All U.S. Air-Launched Ordnance in Iraq

The B-1B Was Designed to Drop Nuclear Bombs on Russia — After 9/11 It Dropped 40% of All U.S. Air-Launched Ordnance in Iraq

Rockwell International’s B-1A bomber, designed in the early 1970s as a low-altitude supersonic nuclear delivery platform, was cancelled by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 in favor of cruise missiles and the emerging stealth bomber program. President Ronald Reagan revived the program in 1981 as the B-1B Lancer — a stealthier, slower variant optimized for sustained low-altitude penetration — and 96 were eventually acquired by the U.S. Air Force, en…