Word: 52s
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Such was the military-industrial reaction last week to Jimmy Carter's stunning and almost wholly unexpected decision to kill the Air Force's request for 244 swing-wing B-1 bombers. The B-1s were to have replaced the aging U.S. fleet of 330 B-52s-a few of which are older than some of the men who fly aboard them. In contrast, there was jubilation among liberals like New York Representative Jonathan Bingham and Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire. who have long argued that the B-1 is an outlandishly expensive dinosaur. Iowa Democrat John Culver...
...alternative, Carter ordered the Air Force to load its newest weapon, the comparatively cheap (less than $1 million each) and deadly accurate cruise missile, aboard modified B-52s. He left open the possibility of putting cruise missiles aboard modified C-5A Galaxy transports and military versions of the Boeing 747. Pentagon planners estimate that Carter's plan could cost, overall, at least 20% less than building the B-1 and that it will give the U.S. just as good a capability of penetrating Soviet air defenses...
Carter ordered the Pentagon to speed up by three years research and development of the Air Force version of the cruise missile so that it can be fully deployed by about 1983. How many B-52s will be modified-at an estimated $700,000 each, plus the cost of the missiles-is unknown. The prime candidates are the 240 "G" and "H" models that have been built since 1959. The remaining 90 B-52s are up to 21 years old. The cost of refitting the B-52s will soak up much of the money saved by abandoning...
...BOMBER. The Air Force is asking for 244 of these new supersonic warplanes, and there is general agreement that they o would make an excellent replacement for the aging B-52s, most of which are nearly 20 years...
Send the B-52s...