A 60 year old bomber planned to fly another 30-40 years

Bilge_Rat · 04-16-12, 04:22 PM

B-52s are obsolete as a front line bomber. Even during the Vietnam War, they were relegated to areas with few air defences. When B-52s were launched against North Vietnam in the Xmas bombings, they suffered heavy losses and air defence networks now are much more deadly than in 1972.

Now, if the USAF has a need for counter-insurgency or CAS work and B-52s can fill the need better than the current fleet of F-16/15/18, fine, but somehow I doubt it.

nice airplane though. My favorite B-52 film was Dr. Strangelove. Kubrick did not have USAF permission to film in a real B-52, but they did have access to public photos. His B-52 set was so accurate that the USAF launched an investigation to see if there had been a security leak.

04-16-12, 04:22 PM	#11
Bilge_Rat Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: standing watch... Posts: 3,856 Downloads: 344 Uploads: 0	B-52s are obsolete as a front line bomber. Even during the Vietnam War, they were relegated to areas with few air defences. When B-52s were launched against North Vietnam in the Xmas bombings, they suffered heavy losses and air defence networks now are much more deadly than in 1972. Now, if the USAF has a need for counter-insurgency or CAS work and B-52s can fill the need better than the current fleet of F-16/15/18, fine, but somehow I doubt it. nice airplane though. My favorite B-52 film was Dr. Strangelove. Kubrick did not have USAF permission to film in a real B-52, but they did have access to public photos. His B-52 set was so accurate that the USAF launched an investigation to see if there had been a security leak. __________________