Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / USAF) Source- The Diplomat Author- Col Mike “Starbaby” Pietrucha It seems increasingly likely that there will be a B-52 flyby for the retirement of both the B-1 Lancer and the B-2 Spirit. The venerable bomber, which first flew in 1952, remains the primary component of the USAF’s bomber force for both nuclear and conventional missions. Lacking the stealth of the B-2 and the speed of the B-1, the B-52 remains a frontline combat aircraft because of its exceptional range, unmatched versatility, and flexible payload options. It is debatable whether today’s aviation industry could re-create an airplane with this essential mix of capabilities, but a fully modernized B-52, in combination with the new Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B), would provide the USAF with an asymmetrical advantage over both China and Russia that neither is likely to match. Far from being obsolete, the Stratofortress could well serve into the 205

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Air Force Source- The National Interest Author- Andrew Davies From the time it came into being in 1948, the United States Air Force has had a state-of-the-art long-range bomber in its inventory. The first was the extraordinary B-36 Peacemaker—the name intending to signify its deterrent value rather than (just) being ironic—and the latest is the B-2 Spirit “stealth” bomber. There has been several notable aircraft, not least the B-52, which is now scheduled to have a service life in various versions of an astonishing 90 years. (For a review of the current USAF bomber fleet, see here.) Bomber aircraft have been an important part of America’s superpowerdom, allowing it to project global air power and forming part of the nuclear deterrent. Some bombers over the years have never seen combat, but others have flown many “hot” missions. So it’s no surprise that a new Long Range Strike–Bomber (LRS-B) system is in development.

B-2 Spirit (Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Air force) A  bomber  is a  military aircraft  designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping  bombs  on them, firing  torpedoes  at them, or, more recently, by launching  cruise missiles  at them History: The first use of an air-dropped bomb (actually a hand grenade) was carried out by Italian Lieutenant  Giulio Gavotti [1]  during the  1911 Italo-Turkish war in Libya , although his plane was not designed for the task of bombing, and his improvised attack had little impact. The first heavier-than-air aircraft purposely designed for bombing were the  Italian   Caproni Ca 30  and  British   Bristol T.B.8 , both of 1913. [2]  The Bristol T.B.8 was an early  British  single  engined   biplane  built by the  Bristol Aeroplane Company . They were fitted with a prismatic  Bombsight  in the front  cockpit and a cylindrical bomb carrier in the lower forward fuselage capable of carrying twelve 10 lb (4.5 kg) b