# ROCKWELL B-1B LANCER PROMOTIONAL FILM "NEW STRENGTH FOR AMERICAN DEFENSE" 55784

Made in May of 1987, NEW STRENGTH FOR AMERICAN DEFENSE shows the then-brand-new B-1B Lancer bomber being put through its paces by Air Force crews. At 3:11 , SAC's first B-1B main operating base is shown at Dyess, Texas, and the Ellsworth Air Force Base is also shown. McConnell AFB in Kansas and Grand Forks Air Force Base are also mentioned as part of the deployment of 100 B-1Bs. At 4:00 , President Ronald Reagan is seen announcing the contracts for the B-1B, and the manpower build-up to construct the bombers is shown. (Up to this point the B-1B had been put on hiatus by the Carter Administration and was threatened with cancellation). At 4:40 , the groundbreaking events at the Palmdale plant are seen, including rollout in Sept. 1984, with the first flight seen in October 1984. At 5:00 , Reagan is seen at Palmdale congratulating the Rockwell team on the delivery of the first bomber for testing. The B-1B came in on time and in budget, according to the film. At 5:50 , B-1B test pilot Lt. Col. Frank Birk is seen, and he and Col. Alan Rogers discuss the plane's impressive performance. The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force (USAF). It is commonly called the "Bone" (originally from "B-One"). It is one of three strategic bombers in the USAF fleet as of 2017, the other two being the B-2 Spirit "Stealth Bomber", and the B-52 Stratofortress. The B-1 was first envisioned in the 1960s as a platform that would combine…

- Kind: Film
- Genres: Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/55784B1BNewStrengthForAmericanDefense)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/55784B1BNewStrengthForAmericanDefense?play=1)