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Key Points: The U.S. Air Force is reviving mothballed B-1B Lancer bombers from the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to maintain its fleet as required by Congress.

-Two bombers, “Lancelot” and “Rage,” have been restored to replace damaged aircraft and support ongoing power projection needs.

-With the B-1B slated for retirement in the 2030s, this effort demonstrates cost-effective solutions for extending aircraft lifespans.

-The success of these refurbishments could inspire similar approaches for other retired planes, like F-16s, to address budget constraints while meeting operational demands.

U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer Bombers Are Coming Back from the Dead

When U.S. Air Force airplanes are sent to die in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, you figure they are gone for good. But sometimes “storage” means they could come back into service someday. That is just what the Air Force is doing with B-1B Lancer bombers. The branch is pulling some of these mothballed jets back to active duty.

The “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan, outside of Tucson, is in a prime location. The air is dry, and the conditions are warm and sunny, so there is less chance that old airplanes collect rust or that moisture fouls instruments.

Welcome Back from Inaction

The Air Force also used a type of silicon to seal the engines and gaps on two B-1Bs nicknamed “Rage” and “Lancelot.” This is called “Type 2000” storage, overseen by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. 

A B-1B Lancer bomber assigned to the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., waits to be guided into a parking spot after returning to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, from a bomber task force mission, June 8, 2022. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Nicholas Priest.

Why the B-1Bs Are Needed

The B-1B Lancer has been a workhorse with a sterling combat record over the decades. 

However, it will be replaced with the new B-21 Raider bomber, which will enter serial production in the late 2020s. By the early 2030s, all the B-1Bs will be gone. 

Nevertheless, until then the B-1B Lancer will have an important job to do since great powers like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran are threatening the global order. In fact, Congress requires at least 45 B-1B Lancers be in service.

The Story of Lancelot’s Return

Seventeen B-1s of different variants are in storage at the Boneyard. The last time the Air Force recalled the bombers back to duty, in 2004, seven were brought to life. Fast forward to 2022. A B-1B caught fire at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas. 

Workers tried to save it, and 500 parts were replaced. The egress system needed extensive work with refurbished ejector seats fashioned with new rockets. After all this effort and estimating that the fire-damaged bomber would cost significant funds, the Air Force decided to send the beleaguered airplane to the Boneyard and bring Lancelot back to life.

Lancelot will undergo a renewal process at Tinker Air Force Base and eventually have a home base at Dyess. Simple Flying noted an article by an Air Force public affairs specialist about this recovery operation. 

B-1B Lancer Bomber

A B-1B Lancer, tail number 86-0094, is moved across Douglas Blvd. to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Technology Center (MROTC) to receive an initial portion of Gate 1 of programmed depot maintenance April 21. 567th AMXS personnel will perform three days of maintenance which include single system checks on 40 individual actuators validating voltage outputs as
well as interrogating each actuator for hydraulic leaks. After single systems are completed, the horizontal stabilizers will be removed from the aircraft. This is the first time that horizontal stabilizers have ever been removed at the MROTC. Once complete, the aircraft and horizontal stabilizers will be brought back across Douglas to the 569th AMXS strip facility for plastic media blasting. Once stripped, the horizontal stabilizers will be routed to the 76th Commodities Maintenance Group for overhaul and repairs. (U.S. Air Force photo/Kelly White)

According to Colonel Michael Griffin, 10th Flight Test Squadron director of operations, “Pulling ‘Lancelot’ out of the 309th AMARG and putting it through program depot-level maintenance at Tinker will restore the aircraft to the operational units, allowing them to continue to support the nation’s call for power projection. I feel this project is important in continuing to prove the reliability of the B-1 and its use for airpower and air superiority.”

Lancelot will then be part of a fleet of jets that can carry the most significant conventional payload among all Air Force bombers. 

‘Rage’ Makes a Triumphant Return

The branch wasn’t done with old B-1Bs at the Boneyard. In July of this year, a Lancer bomber called “Rage” returned to service. Rage had been in storage for three years after being retired in 2021, and it is now back in the big leagues.

 A B-1B crashed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota at the beginning of 2024, and the branch needed a bomber to take its place in accordance with the Congressional requirement.

That’s excellent news for the Air Force and should be seen as a success story to be replicated with other airplanes. There will be a new Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Air Force in 2025. Money will be tight, and if the Air Force can take old airplanes out of storage, refurbish them, and send them back to regular duty, that would be one way to get around the cost cutters. 

The Air Force Can Replicate This with Other Airplanes

The service did this in 2021 with two F-16s at Davis-Monthan. Defense News reported a creative use of the out-of-action F-16s at the Boneyard. 

The Air Force is taking the mothballed F-16s and “using “digital engineering” to create an exact digital replica of the airframe and many of its major subsystems. The twin will allow the service to simulate future wear on the aircraft, maintenance, and upgrades, as well as provide a path for the service to find new manufacturing sources for F-16 parts,” Defense News wrote.

Hopefully, Rage and Lancelot will succeed similarly, helping the Air Force bombers remain steadfast and dominant during active duty. There may be more airplanes at Davis-Monthan that can replace damaged aircraft and give squadrons a new lease on life.

B-1B Lancer

B-1B Lancer. Image: Creative Commons.

This is a good use of time, money, and resources for future aviation.

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood 

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.