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Sixty Years On, B-52s Are Still Going Strong
Hugh Pickens writes "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. Now CNET reports that it was 60 years ago, on April 15, 1952, that a B-52 prototype built by Boeing took off on its maiden flight and although the 1950s-vintage B-52s are no longer in the US Air Force inventory, the 90 or so H models delivered between May 1961 and October 1962 still remain on active duty. 'The B-52 has been a wonderful flying box,' says retired Brig. Gen. Peyton Cole. 'It's persevered all these years because it's been able to adapt and still continues to fly. It started out as a high-level flying platform during the Cold War. Then as air defenses got better it became a low-level penetrator, and more than that was the first aircraft to fly low-level at night through FLIR (forward looking infrared) and night-vision TV.' The B-52's feat of longevity reflects both regular maintenance and timely upgrades — in the late 1980s, for instance, GPS capabilities were incorporated into the navigation system but it also speaks to the astronomical costs of the next-generation bombers that have followed the B-52 into service (a total of 744 were built, counting all models) with the Air Force. B-52s cost about $70 million apiece (in today's dollars), while the later, stealth-shaped B-2 Spirit bombers carried an 'eye-watering $3-billion-a-pop unit price.' The Air Force's 30-year forecast, published in March, envisions an enduring role for the B-52 and engineering studies, the Air Force says, suggest that the life span of the B-52 could extend beyond the year 2040. 'At that point, why not aim for the centennial mark?'"
How about 60 years of western freedom, which was guaranteed by things like this?
How?
The Soviets were really afraid of our ICBMs and especially our balistic submarines because they could get to target in 30minutes or less. Our submarine force was the real Cold War heros.
And today? Keeping up free from whom? The Chinese?
Oh and let me tell you about how our Air Force and Army will hold up against the Chinese - they couldn't. They will just out number us with shear quanitity. Whiz bang jet fighters? Bombers? Etc?
They'll just come at us wave after wave with cheap shit until we run out of bullets and missles. Then as we're going to reload, they'll shoot us in the ass.
When I read comments such as yours, it just reminds me that we here in the US are subjected to as much propaganda as any tolitarian state.
We're fighting for FREEDOM in [insert country here].
Afghanistan? Not freedom. Like the Taliban or Al-Qaeda could take our Freedom away (Our Government is doing quite well on its own thank you very much.) No, it was just about knocking out an adversary; which I have no problem with. But let's cut the horseshit of "Fighting for our Freedom!", OK. It just cheapens what folks have done in the past who really fought for our freedoms.