Will the U.S. Air Force develop a new bomber?

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Super-secret next generation bomber that could one day fly without a pilot is in development under a heavy secrecy curtain.

The U.S ministry of defense has asked top defense contractors to submit proposals for its new Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) program.

Not much is known about the project to develop the bat-winged stealth bombers – it has been run as a classified program since 2011.

Detailed requirements for the bomber are classified but the US Air Force confirmed that it will be a long-range, air-refuelable, highly survivable aircraft with significant nuclear and conventional stand-off and direct-attack weapons payload.

“I’m going to frame this discussion around the ‘three nots’,” assistant secretary of Defense Katrina McFarland told breakingdefense. “Technological superiority is not assured, R&D is not a variable cost, and time is not recoverable.”

“Sequestration for us is horrendous. Funding for the accounts that exercise our design engineers have declined nearly 50 percent decline in the last five years. That’s not trivial. That’s… the foundation of innovation.”

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McFarland and her boss, weapons-buyer-in-chief Frank Kendall, have their hands full. They must meet urgent pressure to cut costs and still protect research and development for the long term: When she says it shouldn’t be “variable,” she means R&D funding should stay robust even as the overall defense budget declines.

The LRS-B will provide operational flexibility across a wide range of military operations. The Air Force hopes to procure between 80 and 100 of the new stealth bombers at cost of roughly $550 million each.

The planes will be certified to carry nuclear weapons and are being designed as part of a Long Range Strike family of systems. This, rather than as an aircraft designed to penetrate into the most heavily defended airspace all by itself.