B-52s are gearing up to join the fight against ISIS
US Air Force Senior Airman Brittany Y. Bateman
The Air Force has announced that the B-52 heavy bombers originally designed to carry nuclear weapons into the heart of the Soviet Union are on deck to deliver precision weapons against ISIS terrorists.
Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the commander of Air Combat Command, announced the possible deployment of the B-52s to Iraq and Syria during the Air Warfare Symposium 2016, said CNN.
The Air Force has been hard pressed to keep up the constant strikes against ground targets in ISIS’s so-called caliphate.
The heavy bomber mission was being conducted by B-1s, but the “Bones,” as they’re popularly called, were pulled from the mission and returned to the US for maintenance and upgrades.
B-1s from the 28th Bomb Wing out of Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota flew 490 sorties in six months last year and dropped 3,800 munitions on 3,700 targets, according to CNN.
The B-52s coming in are not as technologically advanced or sleek as the B-1s they’re replacing. The youngest B-52 in the inventory rolled off the line in 1962, but they’ve been upgraded numerous times in the last few decades.
These upgrades have taken the B-52 from the nuclear deterrence role through carpet bombing in Vietnam to precision strike. Currently, the Air Force is planning to fly them until at least 2040.
US Air Force Senior Airman Brittany Y. Bateman
Modern B-52s carry the same Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods used by many F-16s, A-10s, B-1s, and other precision aircraft. The Sniper Pod was first deployed to combat in 2005 and allows pilots to accurately detect and engage targets from long ranges.
The B-52 can carry up to 70,000 pounds of munitions including precision bombs, missiles, mines, and cruise missiles.
US Air Force Senior Airman Brittany Y. Bateman
It has already bombed insurgent targets in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of Operations Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, Desert Strike, and Enduring Freedom. This would be its first deployment against ISIS.
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