B-52 Refueling (Video)

Video by Tech. Sgt. Rebecca Zannetti 3rd Combat Camera Squadron

Global Strike Challenge is an opportunity for teams within AFGSC to participate in innovative thinking, teamwork and esprit de corps that are central to the mission.

The B-52: Still Going Strong After 60 Years

A B-52H from Barksdale AFB flying over the desert. Wikiepdia

Sixty Years On, The B-52 Is Still Going Strong -- CNET

The iconic aircraft of the Cold War made its debut flight in 1952. The Air Force says the bomber could easily still be flying in the year 2040.

Along with the ICBM, it was one of the defining pieces of military technology during the Cold War: the B-52 bomber.

Those who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s knew the B-52 Stratofortress as a central figure in the anxiety that flowed from the protracted staring match between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. On the one hand, it was reassuring to know that the Strategic Air Command was ready at a moment's notice to scramble its B-52s to counter any potential nuclear attack. On the other hand, if the bombers were flying that mission, well, things might well have ended badly for everyone.

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My Comment: A great photo gallery on the B-52 is here.

The End Of The B-2 And B-52H Bombers?

A USAF B-52 Stratofortress Bomber and a USAF B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Fly In Formation Over Shreveport During the 2008 Defenders of Liberty Airshow and Open House at Barksdale Air Force Base, May 10, 2008. Shreveport, State of Louisiana, USA

Bye-Bye Bomber? -- Newsweek

For the first time in almost 40 years, the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia are unregulated by a mutual treaty: START—the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty—expired earlier this month. Envoys from both countries are working on an interim deal to extend START—then the goal will be to craft a new treaty. Negotiating that accord will take at least the remainder of President Obama's term. But already the Air Force worries how a new pact might affect the fate of its storied B-52H and B-2 bombers.

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My Comment: The Quadrennial Defense Review and other studies are looking for big projects to ax .... American's bomber fleet is just one of many that are now under the knife.

Should we be surprised .... no. As predicted, with the U.S. Government running trillion deficits, the focus will be to cut expenditures with the Pentagon being the first on the block .... and big cuts are coming.