Overview
- Boeing announced completion of the preliminary design review for the Load Adaptable Modular (LAM) pylon that would attach to the B-1B to carry new external payloads.
- The PDR involved Air Force Materiel Command and industry suppliers and advances the program toward a critical design review, aircraft modification, and ground and flight testing.
- The LAM is designed to use six existing B-1B hard points that were built for the retired air‑launched cruise missile and have been largely unused since the bomber’s nuclear role ended.
- The capability to carry hypersonic or other standoff weapons is not yet fielded because weapon integration, certification, and flight testing remain future steps.
- Boeing frames the pylon as a cost‑effective way to extend the B-1’s mission flexibility and keep the roughly 45-aircraft fleet relevant, and the program could influence how the Air Force pairs legacy bombers with new hypersonic weapons as tests and design reviews proceed.