![]() Interestingly, in 1966, famed Hollywood actor and World War II veteran Air Force Reserve Big. Mark Milley, broke the chain of command to prevent an unhinged President Trump from starting a war with China. ![]() While the Air Force denied that such a thing could happen, we only have to look at the revelations from the newly published book “Peril,” by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, which revealed that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. The scene showing Pickens, playing the part of Major Kong, revealing the contents of a post-nuclear survival kit during their mission to bomb the Soviet Union remains one of the most epic bits of comedic cinema. They were sent to the "Airplane Graveyard" at the AMARG facility in Tuscon, Arizona where the wings were snapped off.Director Stanley Kubrick had originally planned the film as a drama, but the more he and writer Terry Southern explored the subject, the more it lended to comedy.Īdd the genius of British actor Peter Sellers, who played three roles in the film, and Slim Pickens as the bold B-52 major, bent on getting to “the primary” target, and you have a classic film that still holds up today. Sadly, after the Cold War, many B-52 bombers were destroyed as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. While they only performed airborne alerts, each bomber was loaded with nuclear bombs and “loitered” outside the Soviet Union to act as a rapid first strike or retaliation in case of a nuclear war. Airborne alert duty was the main job of the bomber under various code names like Chrome Dome, Round Robin, and Giant Lance. The Cold War saw great use of the B-52 but not a single bomb was dropped. This mission consisted of waves of bombers dropping 15,237 tons of bombs over a 12 day period. The largest attack the B-52 saw in Vietnam was Operation Linebacker II. Thanks to the long range of the plane, these missions were able to last several hours without needing to land or refuel with a KC-135 Stratotanker. This plane was vital to both operations due to the fact that after modifications for cargo capacity, the B-52 was able to carpet bomb areas with 60,000 pounds of bombs. The B-52’s biggest roles however were in the Vietnam and Cold Wars.ĭuring the Vietnam War the B-52 was a major part of Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Arc Light. It also displayed its global reach by flying around the world in 45 hours and 19 minutes on January 16-18, 1957. The bomber deployed its first live hydrogen bomb over the Bikini Atoll on May 21, 1956. The B-52 is most likely known for being the world’s largest bomber, but not many know how important of a role it played. This would be around $53.4 million per plane in today’s market. Between 19 there were 744 B-52’s built at the cost of $14.43 million per plane. Boeing was finally able to refine the B-52 in 1955 to the plane we see today, an angled-winged, eight turbojet engine powered bomber with the ability to carry 60,000 pounds of various payloads. ![]() The plane was destroying runways due to its excessive weight and size. Another issue the B-52 had was once several of these issues were resolved. The B-52 went through several variations and numerous modifications such as wing position and proper engines. The USAF wanted a bomber that could carry a very large payload while being able to remain in the air for extended periods of time. In service since 1955, the B-52 is the most frequently used long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber.īoeing won the contract to build the B-52 on Jbut the first flight was not until Apwith “Tex” Johnston due to multiple structure and propulsion problems. ![]() Designed to be the United States Air Force’s carrier of nuclear weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is the USAF’s largest bomber. ![]()
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