Since its first flight in 1954, the B-52 Stratofortress has far ex- ceeded expectations. The flying fortress has been used in diverse missions, including strategic deterrence exercises near the North Pole in July 2016.


B-52 [CONTINUED FROM PAGE 67]


also a great CAS [close-air support] weapon, as we saw during the siege of Khe Sanh.”


0ƕ dÉdǕdťú ǕťdđƟdzƄ It might seem counterintuitive that a


B-52 BY THE NUMBERS Name: Stratofortress Year fielded: 1954 (A model)


Main mission: Long-range heavy bomber


Other capabilities: Close-air support, air interdiction, ocean surveillance


Manufacturer: Boeing Wingspan: 185 feet Ceiling: 50,000 feet Speed: 650 mph


Armament: Can carry roughly 70,000 pounds of mixed ordnance: bombs, mines, and missiles


Range: 8,800 miles (unrefueled combat range)


Crew: 5 Cost: About $84 million each


behemoth like the B-52 could excel at the CAS mission. But when the Ma- rine Corps base at Khe Sanh was sur- rounded by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers in early 1968, it was the BUFF that mercilessly pounded their positions — often within just 3 kilome- ters of the base — killing an estimated 10,000 NVA troops and ending the siege. In December 1972, the military lifted many of its target restrictions, and B-52s began bombing North Viet- namese industry and other infrastruc- ture near Hanoi and Haiphong in an operation called Linebacker II. “We were still dropping dumb bombs, but dumping large amounts of them,” says Mailes. “It was the B-52 that eventu- ally led the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table.” Eighteen years elapsed between


IMAGES: ABOVE, BRENDAN MATSUYAMA; TOP, SENIOR AIRMAN JOSHUA KING, USAF SOURCE: USAF FACT SHEETS AND NEWS RELEASES


the last B-52 combat mission in Viet- nam and Operation Desert Storm in 1991, but the BUFF was ready, drop-


ping 72,000 tons of ordnance during 1,624 sorties. Beginning with Opera- tion Enduring Freedom in 2001, B-52s employed precision-guided munitions for the first time, greatly increasing strike accuracy and reducing col- lateral casualties. The bomber was used extensively in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, until the latter’s official end of com- bat operations Dec. 28, 2014. The rise of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) ensured the BUFF wouldn’t be idle for long. B-52 pilot Maj. Sarah “Rabbit”


Fortin, USAF, recently returned from a deployment to Qatar in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, a cam- paign against ISIS. She’s in a better position than most to understand what a remarkable aircraft she’s flying and notes, “It’s incredible to me that a plane engineered with ’40s- and ’50s- [era] technology can still be relevant today and still will be long after I re- tire.” Indeed, a common saying among BUFF aircrews is, “The last B-52 pilot hasn’t been born yet.”


MO


— Mark Cantrell is a freelance writer in North Carolina. His last feature for Military Officer was “Design for the Ages,” March 2017.


APRIL 2017 MILITARY OFFICER 77


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