The B-52 Was Vulnerable at High Altitude and Soviet SAMs Were Improving — The Air Force Needed a Bomber That Could Fly Fast and Low: How the B-1B Was Born The B-1B Lancer has always been considered the black sheep of the U.S. bomber fleet. While the B-52 and the B-2 Spirit always had their defined roles and purposes, the B-1 took multiple decades to find its place in the USAF.
Originally designed as a strategic missile carrier, the B-1 evolved …