It has been over forty years since the B-1B Lancer stood as a pillar of American bomber capability. It is not merely packing out the Air Force’s biggest conventional payload—it’s about toughness, adaptability, and making a strong statement when necessary. Its legend is based on reliability under stress, and on pilots who have pushed it to its limits on operations around the world.
That capability was proven to its maximum level in February 2024. Two B-1Bs took off from American soil and completed a 34-hour round-trip journey to strike at Iraqi and Syrian targets. It was a historic flight: American bombers took off on a combat mission from the continental United States for the first time and returned home without refueling anywhere else.
The mission was more than a reprisal exercise; it demonstrated that the nation can strike forcefully at home, expressing to potential adversaries that distance cannot stop U.S. airpower.
The mission itself was complicated with atypical difficulties. Ellsworth Air Force Base, the nation’s only two B-1 bases, had just survived a crash that temporarily diverted operations to Dyess Air Force Base. Despite the interlude, units transferred effortlessly between the two sites, choreographing the operation with precision.
The raid dropped 125 precision-guided munitions on 85 targets, including command nodes and weapons depots, timed to coincide with the somber transfer of deceased American soldiers—a sure combination of strategic and symbolic power.
However, the B-1B fleet is not perfect. The January 2024 crash at Ellsworth revealed more sinister problems: breakdowns in discipline, leadership, and risk management. The aftermath saw the relief of the 28th Operations Group commander and served as a reminder to all that high expectations and accountability are not choices.
Numbers are writing another chapter in the book. Of the initial 100, only 45 are in the air today. Decades of hard use, retirements, and crashes have their effect. Keeping these swing-wing bombers in service is time- and dollar-sapping. Continuing fatigue testing and overall overhauls are measures to squeeze every ounce of service life out of them, but everyone knows the B-1 is on the brink of writing the last chapter in its flying history.
It is in the years to come that it is the B-21 Raider that will finally make it into the limelight. Environs of stealth technology, nuclear powerplant, and potential manned or unmanned status, the Raider symbolizes America’s long-range bomber force of the future. It is Ellsworth that will first be receiving the new aircraft, and Dyess shortly thereafter.
As Maj. Gen. Jason Armagost once indicated, “Modernization doesn’t erase the past; it builds on it.” What the generations of B-1 operations learned will guide the employment of the Raider.
Change is also happening outside the airframe. Aircrew procedures have been revised to allow pregnant pilots to stay at the controls of certain non-ejection-seat aircraft during the second trimester, with safety requirements met. For pilots like Maj. Lauren Olme, it’s staying productive on the flight deck and keeping up a family life—a small but important step toward retaining talent and supporting long careers.
Ultimately, though, the B-1B is more than machinery. It’s the men and women who’ve flown it, maintained it, and sent it to combat all over the world. It’s proving, time and again, that America can project power anywhere on Earth at any time. While the Raider will one day fill the shoes, the heart, the experience, and the history of the Lancer will live on in every bomber crew that follows. Its legacy isn’t being lost—it’s evolving.