[quote][b][url=/v3/forum/%C3%A9tats-unis-31/topic/rockwell-b-1a-le-pr%C3%A9curseur-664/?post=39431#post-39431]ex-rogcas[/url] a dit le 17/11/2007 à 12:29 :[/b]

Oui. Il était au courant de ces programmes, mais pour le B-2 (ou ATB) pas au moment de la décision d'annulation du programme B-1A. C'est ce que j'ai pu trouver sur le net concernant ce passage : il me paraissait effectivement étrange qu'un président américain soit au fait de tous les programmes d'armements en cours ou à venir, sans pour autant connaître les fameux "black programs", en  tout cas dans le détail.

Ou alors, au vu de leurs dates de "sortie" officieuses, je pense qu'il était au courant du programme de chasseur-bombardier, mais que les travaux sur le B-2 n'en étaient encore qu'aux premières idées sans formalisation précise.

[quote="Joe Baugher"][i]In June of 1977, President Jimmy Carter cancelled the B-1A bomber program. Although much criticized at the time, one of the reasons for the cancellation was the need to concentrate the limited funds that were available on the development of air-launched cruise missiles. Another reason, unsaid at the time, was the desire to concentrate on the development of low observable aircraft that would be hard to detect by enemy radars and thus more likely to penetrate sophisticated defenses.

In August of 1975, the Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) had invited Lockheed, Boeing, and Northrop to submit preliminary engineering data for a low-observable aircraft. This competition was won by Lockheed,, who went on to produce the Have Blue flight demonstrator which later evolved into the F-117A Nighthawk.

In 1978, the Carter administration secretly authorized the start of a stealth bomber program, termed the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB). A bomber was sought which could replace the recently-cancelled B-1A in Air Force future plans and, in addition, also replace the B-52, which was by that time nearly a quarter-century old. The requirements were set by the needs of the Cold War--this aircraft would use low-observable technology to make it possible to penetrate unobserved for hundreds of miles into Soviet airspace with a full load of nuclear weapons.[/i][/quote]
Annulation du B-1A : 30 juin 1977
Début du programme ATB : 1978

Cela concorde.[/quote]