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...hopefully looking forward to flying missile platforms. And an ideal platform would be a plane, loitering aloft, just beyond reach of enemy interceptors, ready to launch long-range air-to-ground missiles at targets deep in enemy territory. Existing bombers have small talent for loitering; the big B-52s, backbone of the Strategic Air Command, can stay in the air little more than 20 hours. Even if drastically rebuilt with LFC wings, their flight time might increase at most to 33 hours. For really effective loitering, says Warner, an LFC missile platform should be designed from scratch. With economical...
Skybolt was. indeed, dead. Last week the Pentagon formally canceled production contracts for the 1,000-mile missile, which Great Britain had planned to adapt to its Vulcan II bombers, and the U.S. Air Force had counted on to prolong the life of its B-52s. Said Deputy Defense Secretary Roswell Gilpatric: "The test did not conclusively demonstrate the capacity of the missile to achieve the target accuracy for which the Skybolt system was designed...
...same time, SAC greatly increased the number of B-52 bombers-usually about 50%-on 15-minute ground alert. Dozens of SAC's B-52s fully armed with nuclear bombs flew 24-hour alerts; none was allowed to land until its replacement was in the air. And a special alert went out to most of the crews of the U.S.'s 156 operational intercontinental ballistic missiles (102 Atlases and 54 Titan I missiles...
Another factor was that Loser Boeing could not poor-mouth very effectively. With its plum contracts involving the Minuteman missile, the Saturn booster and the modernization of older B-52s. Boeing has enough work to keep its Wichita plant going. Boeing has also developed the X20 Dyna-Soar, the first fully maneuverable spacecraft. If the Air Force wins its fight for a military role in space. Boeing's Dyna-Soar could supersede the TFX on some yonder tomorrow...
Britain. Four Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases, plus several Tactical Air Command (TAC) bases. The SAC planes are B-47s with a range of 4,000 miles; 7,200-mile B-52s are sometimes deployed overseas temporarily, but most B-52s are based within the U.S. The U.S. missile force in Britain consists of some 60 Thor IRBMs under dual U.S.- British control. The U.S. has notified Britain that the missiles will be withdrawn next year. At Holy Loch, in Scotland, the Navy has its only foreign Polaris station...