B-1B Bomber will have hypersonic missiles.

The United States Air Force recently unveiled a reversible modification of its B-1B Lancer bomber that almost doubles its weapons payload and will allow it to one day carry hypersonic missiles. The demonstration was carried out by the 412th Test Wing, Air Force Global Strike Command, and industry partners at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

B1-B bomber (Picture source: US Air Force)

"It will be able to carry four or more hypersonic weapons internally. You can see the merit of that,” said General Timothy Ray, Commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command.

The demonstration showed a hypersonic missile mock-up attached to a Conventional Rotary Launcher inside the B-1B’s bomb bay. That rotary launcher is the same type that has been used to increase the precision weapons capacity of the Boeing B-52H Stratofortress.

The demo showed that the B1-Bs magazine capacity can be increased from 24 weapons internally, all the way up to 40, Lt. Col. Dominic Ross, B-1B program element monitor, AFGSC, (Air Force Global Strike Command) said in an Air Force Report.

B-1B internal bomb bay modification with notional hypersonic missile (Picture source: US Air Force)