U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers return to a rebuilt runway powering future B-21 Raider missions
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B-1B Lancer bombers from the 28th Bomb Wing have begun returning to Ellsworth Air Force Base after an approximately 10-month, $129.5 million runway reconstruction that supported the base’s transformation into the first B-21 Raider main operating base. Their gradual homecoming from Grand Forks AFB restores a key long-range strike hub at a moment when the United States is reshaping its bomber force around the future B-21 fleet.
Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota has reopened its runway and begun bringing home B-1B Lancer bombers from the 28th Bomb Wing, marking the end of an extended relocation that sent 17 aircraft and hundreds of airmen to Grand Forks AFB while crews tore up and rebuilt the flight line. Official photos released in early December show B-1Bs once again taxiing and launching from Ellsworth, a visible signal that the roughly $130 million reconstruction project is complete and that the base is ready to support both current Lancer operations and the coming B-21 Raider fleet. The return of aircraft, maintenance teams, and aircrews effectively reactivates the Air Force’s first B-21 main operating base, restoring full long-range strike capacity at a time when senior leaders are emphasizing bomber readiness in both conventional and nuclear roles.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The B-1B Lancer is built around an airframe optimised for very low-level flight, capable of maintaining fast and unpredictable trajectories intended to complicate adversary detection. (Picture source: US DoD)
The B-1B Lancer, which, enters service in the 1980s, remains a core asset for conventional strike missions. The aircraft uses four General Electric F101 turbofan engines able to sustain high cruise speeds at low altitude, which helps it penetrate defended environments. Its modular weapons bay can carry up to 34 tonnes of ordnance, including GPS-guided JDAM, long-range JASSM, or unguided Mk 82 bombs. Its variable-geometry wing structure provides a balance between endurance and speed, with a range exceeding 9,000 km without aerial refuelling. These technical features are not new, but they remain essential to understanding the role the Lancer still holds in the US arsenal as the transition to the B-21 is prepared.
The B-1B Lancer is built around an airframe optimised for very low-level flight, capable of maintaining fast and unpredictable trajectories intended to complicate adversary detection. Its variable-sweep wing moves from an extended span of about 41.7 m to a folded position of roughly 23.8 m for high-speed flight. The aircraft is powered by four F101-GE-102 engines, each producing about 30,000 pounds of thrust, enabling speeds above 1,300 km/h in high subsonic flight. The four-person crew shares the management of flying, precision navigation and weapon system employment during long and demanding missions.
Most of the Lancer’s firepower is concentrated in its three internal weapons bays, which can carry the equivalent of 34 tonnes of armament, from 500- or 2,000-pound unguided bombs to JDAM, complex GBU or conventional cruise missiles. The APQ-164 radar with electronically steered antenna provides high-resolution mapping, terrain-following and terrain-avoidance modes, allowing the aircraft to maintain a low, fast flight profile in all weather conditions. The AN/ALQ-161 electronic warfare system combines threat detection, jamming and automatic management of hostile emitters, supported by Doppler sensors, radar altimeters and TACAN systems that ensure full autonomy in navigation and approach.
In day-to-day employment, the B-1B Lancer opens long-range strike corridors by combining speed, penetration and payload. The aircraft flies below radar coverage, maintains automatic terrain following and can deliver a large volume of guided or unguided munitions in a single pass. Campaigns conducted in the Middle East and under NATO have shown its ability to hold prolonged orbits, adjust attack plans in flight and provide accurate effects in joint operations. At a time when conventional strike must fit into a high-intensity environment, the Lancer remains a platform capable of saturating defences, degrading critical infrastructure and providing strategic depth to US air power.
The closure of the Ellsworth runway in December 2024 had forced the transfer of seventeen B-1B aircraft to Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota, where nearly 800 personnel from the 28th Bomb Wing were redeployed. This move, unprecedented for Grand Forks in three decades and a former bomber base before the 319th Bomb Wing shifted to the refuelling mission, underlined the scale of the work under way in South Dakota. The aircraft are now returning in waves, as maintenance teams take up their positions again in modernised hangars and initial training sorties resume as soon as the runway reopens. Photos released on 5 December show a B-1B taxiing and another undergoing immediate maintenance, indicating an almost direct return to operational activity.
The project, valued at 129.5 million dollars, is carried out by the US Army Corps of Engineers and contractor RC Construction Inc. A total of 106,000 tonnes of concrete cover the new runway, along with 105 miles of joint sealing to improve durability and 83 miles of electrical conduits to modernise lighting and approach systems. Leaders of the 28th Bomb Wing state that this work secures the base’s use for the next fifty years. The reactivation of the runway and its surroundings is combined with a broader programme involving the construction of more than twenty facilities dedicated to the future B-21 Raider, including a phase maintenance hangar, a radio-frequency hangar, a training centre for weapons loaders and infrastructure dedicated to fuel systems.
The return of B-1B aircraft goes hand in hand with the resumption of proficiency activities, visible for example in sequences showing a Lancer performing hot pit refuelling to train teams in rapid turnaround cycles. These procedures help the 28th Bomb Wing maintain a high operational tempo, in line with the requirements of long-range conventional strike missions. Designed to operate within dense airspace thanks to its low profile, range and payload, the bomber continues to play a role in high-intensity scenarios. Its ability to carry penetration, cruise or guided munitions at the same time enables it to adapt to varied mission profiles, from the Indo-Pacific theatre to joint European operations.
The reopening of Ellsworth comes as the United States finalises the build-up of the B-21 Raider, described as the first sixth-generation bomber. The modernisation of the base fits into a broader strategic reconfiguration intended to ensure resilience and dispersal of long-range strike assets. The combined capabilities of the B-1B, still important for conventional mass fires, and the B-21, designed for stealth penetration in contested environments, reflect a doctrinal shift closely watched by other major powers. The arrival of the Raider on a fully renovated site strengthens the credibility of US long-range strike forces and is likely to prompt other large air forces to accelerate their own modernisation programmes in an international context that remains tense.
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B-1B Lancer bombers from the 28th Bomb Wing have begun returning to Ellsworth Air Force Base after an approximately 10-month, $129.5 million runway reconstruction that supported the base’s transformation into the first B-21 Raider main operating base. Their gradual homecoming from Grand Forks AFB restores a key long-range strike hub at a moment when the United States is reshaping its bomber force around the future B-21 fleet.
Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota has reopened its runway and begun bringing home B-1B Lancer bombers from the 28th Bomb Wing, marking the end of an extended relocation that sent 17 aircraft and hundreds of airmen to Grand Forks AFB while crews tore up and rebuilt the flight line. Official photos released in early December show B-1Bs once again taxiing and launching from Ellsworth, a visible signal that the roughly $130 million reconstruction project is complete and that the base is ready to support both current Lancer operations and the coming B-21 Raider fleet. The return of aircraft, maintenance teams, and aircrews effectively reactivates the Air Force’s first B-21 main operating base, restoring full long-range strike capacity at a time when senior leaders are emphasizing bomber readiness in both conventional and nuclear roles.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The B-1B Lancer is built around an airframe optimised for very low-level flight, capable of maintaining fast and unpredictable trajectories intended to complicate adversary detection. (Picture source: US DoD)
The B-1B Lancer, which, enters service in the 1980s, remains a core asset for conventional strike missions. The aircraft uses four General Electric F101 turbofan engines able to sustain high cruise speeds at low altitude, which helps it penetrate defended environments. Its modular weapons bay can carry up to 34 tonnes of ordnance, including GPS-guided JDAM, long-range JASSM, or unguided Mk 82 bombs. Its variable-geometry wing structure provides a balance between endurance and speed, with a range exceeding 9,000 km without aerial refuelling. These technical features are not new, but they remain essential to understanding the role the Lancer still holds in the US arsenal as the transition to the B-21 is prepared.
The B-1B Lancer is built around an airframe optimised for very low-level flight, capable of maintaining fast and unpredictable trajectories intended to complicate adversary detection. Its variable-sweep wing moves from an extended span of about 41.7 m to a folded position of roughly 23.8 m for high-speed flight. The aircraft is powered by four F101-GE-102 engines, each producing about 30,000 pounds of thrust, enabling speeds above 1,300 km/h in high subsonic flight. The four-person crew shares the management of flying, precision navigation and weapon system employment during long and demanding missions.
Most of the Lancer’s firepower is concentrated in its three internal weapons bays, which can carry the equivalent of 34 tonnes of armament, from 500- or 2,000-pound unguided bombs to JDAM, complex GBU or conventional cruise missiles. The APQ-164 radar with electronically steered antenna provides high-resolution mapping, terrain-following and terrain-avoidance modes, allowing the aircraft to maintain a low, fast flight profile in all weather conditions. The AN/ALQ-161 electronic warfare system combines threat detection, jamming and automatic management of hostile emitters, supported by Doppler sensors, radar altimeters and TACAN systems that ensure full autonomy in navigation and approach.
In day-to-day employment, the B-1B Lancer opens long-range strike corridors by combining speed, penetration and payload. The aircraft flies below radar coverage, maintains automatic terrain following and can deliver a large volume of guided or unguided munitions in a single pass. Campaigns conducted in the Middle East and under NATO have shown its ability to hold prolonged orbits, adjust attack plans in flight and provide accurate effects in joint operations. At a time when conventional strike must fit into a high-intensity environment, the Lancer remains a platform capable of saturating defences, degrading critical infrastructure and providing strategic depth to US air power.
The closure of the Ellsworth runway in December 2024 had forced the transfer of seventeen B-1B aircraft to Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota, where nearly 800 personnel from the 28th Bomb Wing were redeployed. This move, unprecedented for Grand Forks in three decades and a former bomber base before the 319th Bomb Wing shifted to the refuelling mission, underlined the scale of the work under way in South Dakota. The aircraft are now returning in waves, as maintenance teams take up their positions again in modernised hangars and initial training sorties resume as soon as the runway reopens. Photos released on 5 December show a B-1B taxiing and another undergoing immediate maintenance, indicating an almost direct return to operational activity.
The project, valued at 129.5 million dollars, is carried out by the US Army Corps of Engineers and contractor RC Construction Inc. A total of 106,000 tonnes of concrete cover the new runway, along with 105 miles of joint sealing to improve durability and 83 miles of electrical conduits to modernise lighting and approach systems. Leaders of the 28th Bomb Wing state that this work secures the base’s use for the next fifty years. The reactivation of the runway and its surroundings is combined with a broader programme involving the construction of more than twenty facilities dedicated to the future B-21 Raider, including a phase maintenance hangar, a radio-frequency hangar, a training centre for weapons loaders and infrastructure dedicated to fuel systems.
The return of B-1B aircraft goes hand in hand with the resumption of proficiency activities, visible for example in sequences showing a Lancer performing hot pit refuelling to train teams in rapid turnaround cycles. These procedures help the 28th Bomb Wing maintain a high operational tempo, in line with the requirements of long-range conventional strike missions. Designed to operate within dense airspace thanks to its low profile, range and payload, the bomber continues to play a role in high-intensity scenarios. Its ability to carry penetration, cruise or guided munitions at the same time enables it to adapt to varied mission profiles, from the Indo-Pacific theatre to joint European operations.
The reopening of Ellsworth comes as the United States finalises the build-up of the B-21 Raider, described as the first sixth-generation bomber. The modernisation of the base fits into a broader strategic reconfiguration intended to ensure resilience and dispersal of long-range strike assets. The combined capabilities of the B-1B, still important for conventional mass fires, and the B-21, designed for stealth penetration in contested environments, reflect a doctrinal shift closely watched by other major powers. The arrival of the Raider on a fully renovated site strengthens the credibility of US long-range strike forces and is likely to prompt other large air forces to accelerate their own modernisation programmes in an international context that remains tense.
