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Designed specifically to carry nuclear weapons deep into the heart of the Soviet union, the B-52 heavy bomber has served with distinction for over 55 years.
Designed specifically to carry nuclear weapons deep into the heart of the Soviet union, the B-52 heavy bomber has served with distinction for over 55 years.
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00:05Advances in aviation history give way to legendary aircraft that become the most powerful and
00:12innovative weapons of our time.
00:16Each airframe is unique with limitless capabilities, but one thing remains the same.
00:25Underneath the surface, they are all simply great planes.
00:39First deployed in the early 50s, the Boeing B-52 is the Strategic Air Command's primary
00:45weapon of deterrence.
00:46With its tremendous range, it could deliver its nuclear payload anywhere in the world.
00:52Today, the B-52 flies in low-level bombing and electronic warfare missions as well.
00:58I'm Paul Max Moga, and we're here at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia.
01:03Join me as we tell the remarkable story of the B-52 Straddle Fortress.
01:19Lieutenant Colonel Rick Bell currently works at Air Combat Command headquarters at Langley.
01:24B-52.
01:25Before that, he spent nearly two decades behind the controls of the B-52.
01:31R.D.
01:32Thanks.
01:33Good to see you, man.
01:34You too.
01:34Thanks for coming out and spending a few minutes to talk to us about the mighty buff.
01:39Well, thanks for having me.
01:39I appreciate it.
01:40Cool.
01:40Now, this plane itself at Langley Air Force Base, what can you tell me about this aircraft specifically?
01:47This plane was brought here to be a dedicated memorial for those crew members formerly that
01:53have fallen in combat while flying B-52 combat missions.
01:56And Max, as you probably know, buff's flown in not only Vietnam, but it's been an Allied
02:01Force, Desert Storm 1, Desert Storm 2, OEF, OIF, Desert Fox, been involved in a lot of things.
02:08We've had a lot of comrades fall in B-52s.
02:11So this isn't just a regular plane on a stick, and this one really represents something especially
02:17to you guys.
02:18Absolutely.
02:18And this one in particular last did fly in Vietnam out of Anderson and Guam is where
02:24it's claimed to fame coming.
02:25It's a long, long trip.
02:27Roger that.
02:30Before we talk about the mighty buff itself, tell me about your qualifications and your history
02:37in the plane.
02:38Okay.
02:38Well, I started flying buffs back in 1988.
02:41Flew for 18 years.
02:43You don't look that old.
02:45It aged me well, I guess.
02:47Flew for 18 straight years at the wing level, and then at that time I had to do my duty
02:54to
02:54come to a staff job here at Langley Air Force Base, and that's where I'm at now.
02:57Happens to the best of us, huh?
02:58But I got about 4,200 hours in the airplane and loved every one of them.
03:03Wow.
03:03No complaints, huh?
03:04Zero.
03:044,200 hours?
03:06Roger that.
03:07So you know the buff.
03:08Pretty well.
03:09When it goes into service in 1955, the B-52 represents the pinnacle of jet bomber design.
03:16But its story begins 10 years earlier.
03:19Throughout much of World War II, the Department of Defense focuses on war technology that production
03:25lines can churn out quickly.
03:26For example, the improved piston engines that drive every American aircraft in the war.
03:40Even the massive Boeing B-29, considered the ultimate in aviation technology, with more
03:46speed, range, and payload than any other bomber, depends on piston engine technology.
03:57But soon, a new breed of aircraft will render the B-29 obsolete.
04:06Early in the war, the United States is shocked to learn that Germany and Britain have developed
04:12gas turbine jet engines that could soon propel fighters at speed, surpassing the fabled superfortress.
04:33In 1944, the American Army Air Corps requires an all-jet bomber fast enough to elude jet fighters.
04:44Five designs win contracts.
04:50Before they can be fully developed, another technological marvel, nuclear fission, brings the war to a dramatic end.
05:01A single B-29 drops a single bomb, annihilating Hiroshima in seconds.
05:11Three days later, Nagasaki meets the same fate.
05:42Three days later, Nagasaki meets the same fate.
05:44of bombers obsolete.
05:53The dreadful human cost that America paid to establish B-29 bases in the Pacific influences
05:59the next generation of bombers.
06:04After the war, focus shifts to delivering the atomic bomb over very long distances.
06:10The Air Force emphasizes long-range intercontinental aircraft, a role that the Convair B-36 Peacemaker
06:18had filled.
06:23The giant B-36 is really a Second World War design, born too late for combat, and requires
06:30six massive piston engines to reach average speeds.
06:38But later, jet engines and pods under the wings supplement its power.
06:51By 1947, the jet bomber project starts bearing fruit.
06:58Five submissions get tested, although by now they're classed as medium-range bombers.
07:09The B-45, the first of the jets from the 1944 requirement, is the second most successful.
07:24The Air Force adopts this simple but effective four-engine design, though mainly for reconnaissance.
07:34Consolidated offers the B-46 as another four-engine jet bomber, featuring elegant lines and adequate
07:40performance.
07:48However, Consolidated, heavily committed to B-36 production, doesn't make the medium bomber project
07:55a priority.
08:05The B-48, a cumbersome aircraft, holds six jet engines in mid-wing clusters.
08:22Its biggest innovation is a bicycle undercarriage supported by two outrigger wheels on each wing.
08:32This project doesn't tempt the Air Force, and like the B-46, the prototype gets scrapped.
08:45Northrop, in its bid for the jet bomber contract, retrofits its piston-engine flying wing with eight turbojets.
09:04The brilliantly designed wing, years ahead of its time, fails to attract government approval.
09:13But Northrop's technological foresight pays off forty years later in the B-2 stealth bomber.
09:31Today, the B-2's wing symbolizes cutting-edge aviation design, but in 1947, the idea is too revolutionary.
09:43The design that most impresses the Air Force comes from Boeing, which bases its B-47 stratojet on German swept
09:51-wing technology.
10:02The six engines have to be suspended on pylons, spread across the extremely thin, flexible and efficient wings.
10:13The layout improves aerodynamics at speed and simplifies engine servicing.
10:21Because the wing is so thin, Boeing borrows Martin's B-48 bicycle undercarriage innovation.
10:30With the B-47, Boeing strikes the right design at the right time, and produces hundreds of the planes for
10:37the Air Force in the early 50s.
10:41Besides becoming an instant success, the B-47 gives Boeing the opportunity to develop even more efficient swept-wing jet
10:49bombers,
10:49eventually leading to the development of the B-52.
11:02The B-52 is nicknamed BUFF, short for Big Ugly Fat Fellow.
11:10With the success of their B-47, Boeing continues to push forward, developing bigger and better jet bombers.
11:20The medium bomber project gives Boeing an edge in the development of a new long-range heavy bomber to replace
11:26the aging B-36 Peacemaker.
11:38Trying to keep the Peacemaker project alive, Convair produces the XB-60, an all-jet swept-wing version.
11:48But this warmed-over Second World War design fails to impress the Air Force.
12:00As far back as 1946, the Air Force commissioned Boeing to develop a replacement for the Peacemaker.
12:07The company explores hundreds of concepts, ranging from ultra-large piston engines to compound supercharged power plants to turboprops.
12:18But nothing provides the boost over the B-36 that the Air Force demands.
12:30Exploiting the efficiency of the B-47's full-swept wing, Boeing proposes another all-jet design based loosely on its
12:38medium bomber, but much, much larger.
12:43They refine the idea on Model 464-67, which the Air Force accepts, and dubs, the B-52.
12:54In October 1948, the Air Force orders two prototypes, the X and Y models.
13:02Minor problems delay the X model, but here the YB-52 gets tested at Edwards Air Force Base.
13:15Its overall shape and fighter-like canopy resembles the B-47, but with greater size and performance.
13:27Artie, this wing is huge. What is the span on that?
13:32It's about 180 feet, wingtip to wingtip.
13:35What's the length of the time?
13:37About 160.
13:38So it's wider than it is long.
13:40It is, a little bit.
13:42The tip gear, which are up right now, are just under 150 feet from wingtip to wingtip.
13:48Tip gear, that is.
13:49So no thin runways for you guys, huh?
13:52No thin runways, yeah.
13:52200 feet's a comfortable runway for us.
13:55On a 150-foot-wide runway, you've got about three-quarters of a foot either side of centerline, and you're
14:00off in the grass with the tip gear.
14:01Yeah.
14:02200 feet is a good thing.
14:03Bad thing, I would assume.
14:04Absolutely.
14:05What kind of minimum runway length for you guys?
14:08I like to use 10,000, no shorter than about 10,000 feet is a good runway.
14:11Yeah.
14:1211 to 12 is better for our max weights for taking off.
14:16Speaking of the max weights, what is you guys' normal operating range?
14:21I suppose, I mean, it can probably vary as much as the wind, but.
14:24Yeah, absolutely.
14:25Well, the plane empty with no fuel and no bombs weighs about 190,000 pounds.
14:30And then we can add to that about 300,000 pounds of either fuel or bombs.
14:36So 488's our max takeoff weight on the airplane.
14:39So typically we fly with a 200 to 230, 230,000-pound fuel load.
14:44That's like half a million pounds.
14:50The B-52 also boasts updated features like the top secret all-steerable undercarriage
14:56that adjusts to face forward on landing even when wind forces the aircraft to land in a crab.
15:13Apart from the cockpit layout, which is changed to a conventional side-by-side airliner arrangement,
15:19the production B-52s vary little from their prototypes.
15:29Work begins on the B-52A, now named the Stratofortress.
15:43I mean, overall, how is she to fly?
15:46She's obviously huge and probably doesn't have the best roll rate, but I mean.
15:51Sure.
15:51It's a very manual plane.
15:54It's, you know, I haven't flown a lot of different airplanes other than B-52s, but it's fairly roll responsive.
16:01It's got a yoke in it versus a stick type of control on it.
16:07It's a very manual jet.
16:09It's responsive to your inputs.
16:13Pretty forgiving and you've got no complaints.
16:15It actually is pretty forgiving.
16:16You can trim it up and fly it hands off very well if you get it trimmed up.
16:21Otherwise, you've got a kind of manhandle thing.
16:30Boeing builds only three B-52A models, but the slightly improved B model goes into full production.
16:44Increased range is the bomber's primary goal.
16:49In-flight refueling, perfected in the late 1940s by Boeing's flying boom, helps achieve it.
16:57But refueling a B-52 in flight takes tremendous skill.
17:05The early piston engine aerial tankers reach a maximum speed just above the stalling speed of the jet bombers.
17:20With the arrival of the KC-135 strato tanker, aerial refueling becomes relatively safe and practical.
17:30I assume the refueling receptacle is on the top?
17:33It's on the top and it actually sits in the center line in between the two pilots about three feet
17:38after the pilot's ejection seat is where it's at.
17:43So when you're refueling, you're looking up at the tanker and the boom actually comes up above the windshield, off
17:49the top and down,
17:50which at nighttime with the boom light is kind of interesting sometimes.
17:54Sporting.
17:54Absolutely. You've got to trust the boom operator.
18:08Extra large outboard wing tanks offer another way to increase range.
18:14These tanks hold 3,000 gallons and can be jettisoned in combat.
18:21With the first B-52s rolling off the assembly line, it's now time to start training pilots to fly the
18:28nation's first line of nuclear attack.
18:37B-52 bombers feature prominently in the classic Cold War era black comedy, Dr. Strangelove.
18:46By March 1954, B-52s roll off Boeing's production line in Seattle and into an immersion program where aircrew and
18:55aircraft become one fighting machine.
19:02After the B-36, the six-man crew finds the B-52 cramped.
19:08Every available inch is dedicated to fuel, payload and electronics.
19:15All right, R.D., that's where it all happens at the cockpit, but there's not just two people in there,
19:21right?
19:21Correct.
19:22Multiple crew?
19:23You bet. There's two pilots, actually. You've got a pilot and a co-pilot that sit up top, facing forward,
19:27obviously.
19:28And then the electronic warfare officer sits up top as well, facing backwards, actually.
19:33And then downstairs, there's a radar navigator and navigator that both face forward.
19:37If you look up the two bubbles in the front, you can see their hatches just in the aft portion
19:43of the actual, that's the eves.
19:45So they're down there in the black hole.
19:47Absolutely.
19:48Oh, man.
19:49And they would actually...
19:49Facing backwards?
19:50They face forward, but they'd actually eject downwards if they ejected.
19:54The rest of the crew ejects upwards on the airplane.
19:57I don't know how I'd feel about that one, but I mean, I guess you've got to do what you've
20:02got to do.
20:02Beats the alternative.
20:05Where the Peacemaker has six gun positions, the B-52 has only one in the aircraft's tail.
20:21All the way at the tip, it looks like that's 50 cals, 450 cals?
20:26Roger that.
20:2750 cal gun on the G model.
20:30We used a different gun on the H's, went to a 20 millimeter Vulcan cannon on those.
20:35You guys put a 20 millimeter, six barrel Gatling gun on the back.
20:38Roger that.
20:40This is actually a radar-guided gun.
20:42The G's and the H's both had a radar-guided gun.
20:44So the gunner actually sits up front in the cockpit area, and it's all done via radar control.
20:49And the D models, which allowed those to in Vietnam, the gunner actually sat right in the back end of
20:54the airplane,
20:55had a nice view after everything going on.
20:56Nice view in the aft.
20:57Nice view.
20:59Wow.
21:06For its defense, the plane relies on its performance and the new science of radar jamming.
21:14The Strategic Air Command has bragging rights to the world's best bomber.
21:22The Strategic Air Command places heavy demands on the B-52 and its crews, who become an elite core worthy
21:30of their sophisticated new aircraft.
21:32For over 10 years, the Stratofortress has one primary responsibility, delivering the thermonuclear hydrogen bomb.
21:40For the bomb to be a deterrent, it has to first demonstrate its potential.
21:45Throughout the 1950s, hydrogen bombs are detonated in the remote Pacific.
21:51B-52s drop many of these deadly payloads.
22:09Loading the most destructive device ever conceived takes the highly trained crews of the Strategic Air Command.
22:18Each cargo has a 100 megaton yield, 100 times greater than the bombs dropped on Japan.
22:45Unlike the weapons of the Second World War, the device carried in this bomb bay needs a parachute to slow
22:50its fall, giving the B-52 time to vacate before the catechism.
22:54The Cyclismic explosion.
22:56The Cyclismic explosion.
23:29The Strategic Air Command has fleets of B-52s in a constant state of alert.
23:38When the red phone rings, up to 100 stratofortresses can go airborne within minutes.
23:47It's a routine honed by practice.
23:52An instant retaliatory strike by SAC is seen as the nation's best defense during the Cold War years.
24:07So, R.D., tell me a little bit about how long the typical mission durations were.
24:12I know that it depends a lot on whether it's refueling or how much fuel you take off with, but
24:17just kind of typical any mission you guys run on.
24:20Our typical train and sorties are running somewhere between six and seven hours.
24:25Unrefueled, the plane, full load, could go about 10 hours on refueled with a good load of gas.
24:31I mean, it is a long-range strike aircraft.
24:33That's what it's designed to do, and that's what its mission is.
24:35So, really, when you put the jet engine tanker with this airplane, you get global strike personified.
24:45Yeah, I mean, there it is.
24:46That's it.
24:50All pilots of nuclear-armed B-52s hold at least the rank of major.
24:57They bear the heavy responsibility of commanding aircraft that could change or even end life on Earth.
25:10But soon, the buff will find itself in need of a new job.
25:26At the height of the Cold War, the B-52 is the most vital weapon in the U.S. nuclear
25:32arsenal.
25:34But just as jets replaced piston engines, so the B-52 and its high-flying Soviet counterparts get superseded by
25:42a deadly new technology, born in Nazi Germany.
25:47In the early 1960s, U.S. and Soviet missile technology renders bombardment by aircraft practically obsolete.
25:58The emphasis shifts to another form of delivery, intercontinental ballistic missiles.
26:05Years of development produce the Polaris and Minuteman missiles, full-scale nuclear war at the touch of a button, without
26:12the need for manned flights.
26:18But SAC keeps straddle fortresses in service.
26:23They still have a major role to play in the dangerous game of nuclear brinkmanship.
26:30Once an ICBM launches, it can't be called back, denying politicians the luxury of saber-rattling.
26:42The B-52, along with Hound Dog's stand-off bombs, provides more leeway.
26:49B-52s could head to the very edge of enemy airspace, signaling America's readiness to attack, but still providing time
26:56for last-minute negotiations.
27:00The B-52 also employs the quail decoy, which confuses the enemy by mimicking the straddle fortress's radar signature.
27:16From the Hound Dog comes the SRAM missile.
27:22A B-52 can guide these small and numerous missiles to targets up to 100 miles away, with devastating accuracy.
28:00In 1965, the B-52 heads to Vietnam, armed with 24 500-pound iron bombs.
28:08Instead of nuclear warheads.
28:42During the straddle fortresses' tour in Southeast Asia, B-52s dropped more than 3 million tons of bombs.
28:49Though the use of the high-flying bombers is controversial, the straddle fortress proves its effectiveness in conventional bombing.
28:56Many historians argue that the heavy bombing of North Vietnam during the linebacker operations pushed the enemy back to the
29:04negotiating table, and eventually to ceasefire.
29:07You know, we always hear stories and watch movies about the, you know, the heroes back in World War II,
29:14but you don't really hear a lot about the buffs going in on linebacker and taking some just nasty losses.
29:22Yeah, it's been kind of a quiet giant over the years.
29:24Lying over Vietnam, you know, getting telephone poles shot at you.
29:27Yeah, yes, SA-2s.
29:28Not being able to do anything about it.
29:29During December of 72, during the linebacker operations, we lost a lot of folks in B-52s,
29:35and airplanes just like this G-model in front of us today.
29:50Other Vietnam operations employ bombs that personnel and aircraft can detonate later to coincide with enemy activity.
30:09Most B-52 raids drop standard 500 and 750-pound iron bombs like these.
30:27To facilitate quick loading and turnaround, the internal bomb load is prearranged on racks.
31:14All right, let's go.
31:32So tell me about what comes out of these doors.
31:36First of all, how many doors are there?
31:37It looks like three.
31:38Yeah, they're actually all connected together.
31:41Maintenance can separate them, but the doors open, one on each side.
31:44Pilot's no monkey with it.
31:45We don't mess with it, and there's room for basically three racks that would fit in there in a conventional
31:50load,
31:51and we can drop 27 500-pound series bombs.
31:55We have a clip-in configuration that's a forward-and-aft clip-in rack that we could carry the bigger,
31:59like, 2,000-pound type of munitions from.
32:02And then we also have a mount that we can put a common strategic rotary launcher in there, which is
32:07what we use for our cruise missiles.
32:08It fills up about two-thirds of the bomb bay, and that would hold eight cruise missiles.
32:15I've got to tell you, one of the most significant emotional events I ever had flying was a middle-of
32:24-the-night mission flying air cover for a strike mission that was going on,
32:29and the night sky was illuminated by two B-52s in formation S-train, and they just got done carpet
32:38bombing.
32:39I mean, carpet bombing.
32:40It was just mass destruction.
32:48During the Vietnam War, no-zart adorns more than a few B-52s.
32:53Although the art is tamer than its Second World War counterpart, the missions are no less hazardous.
33:02B-52 crews cope with fast and agile enemy MiGs, anti-aircraft guns, and worst of all, deadly surface-to
33:11-air missiles.
33:21A combined threat unlike anything faced by American bomber crews of the past.
33:43Legendary test pilot Alvin Tex Johnston was behind the controls for the first-ever B-52 flight on April 15,
33:511952.
34:00After a raid, ground crews repair the bullet-riddled airframes and prime the Stratofortress for the next mission.
34:19Sometimes the hits come uncomfortably close.
34:30Despite the low-fuel takeoff policy, the weight of the bomb load stresses the engines, which need constant maintenance and
34:37frequent replacement.
34:43Might as well just go in and talk about the engines.
34:44Sure.
34:45I don't even want to know what the thrust-to-weight ratio was for you guys, given the fact that
34:49you weighed almost half a million pounds.
34:50Yeah, it's pretty small.
34:50It's like 0.31 versus 1.3.
34:52Yeah, but good enough, right?
34:53Absolutely.
34:54I mean, there's 2, 4, 6, 8.
34:57This is the G-model that has the J-57s on it.
35:01The Hs that we're flying now has Pratt & Whitney TF-33, which puts out about 1,500 pounds of
35:07thrust more than these do.
35:09Each.
35:09Each.
35:10Let's talk about speeds real quick.
35:12I mean, this is a big boy, but you've got eight jet engines on it.
35:16It's got to be able to get up and go if it needs to.
35:18Pretty well.
35:19Yeah, we do our takeoff rolls, max weight, close to 7,000 feet for the takeoff roll.
35:25Max weight, we unstick at 163 knots, and we chew up close to 7,000 feet of runway to do
35:32that.
35:33We climb out about 280 knots, and then we cruise.
35:37Our good cruise line's about Mach 0.76.
35:39It's a good range line for the airplane.
35:41How about if you say, it's time to haul the mail?
35:44I mean, you know, I would assume that you can't go supersonic in this.
35:47No, we can't.
35:48You know, low level where you don't want to be hanging out at 250 knots.
35:51Can you push her up a little bit?
35:53Oh, yeah, absolutely.
35:53Low altitude, we go up to 390 indicated.
35:56High altitude, about Mach 0.84 is our max speed on your airplane.
36:01So for a big burr, she's...
36:02She moves pretty good.
36:05The B-52 G and H models come equipped with an electronic visual system.
36:15The EPS uses infrared cameras and a monitor to enable the pilot to see in darkness and fog.
36:25The technology arrives just as the B-52 gets reassigned as a low-level tactical bomber.
36:36Tell me a little bit about the evolution of the missions of the buff itself.
36:41I mean, it was designed back in the mid-50s, as I assume, kind of a high altitude strategic bomber,
36:46but it's done a ton of other things since then.
36:48Sure has.
36:49Yeah, it was originally designed, believe it or not, in about a weekend with some Boeing guys in a hotel
36:53room in Dayton, Ohio.
36:54Doesn't surprise me.
36:56And put it together, and it was going to be our answer in the Cold War of a bomber that
37:01we could launch from the United States
37:03and go to the Soviet Union with.
37:05High altitude mission, a pure high altitude mission, dropped the big hydrogen bombs.
37:10The Soviet defenses basically drove this airplane to change our tactic to fly low altitude so we could penetrate the
37:16Soviet Union airspace.
37:17And you guys in this aircraft have seen the full spectrum and gamut of nuclear weapon at 40,000 feet
37:26to 500-pound unguided bomb at 200 feet or whatever it is to, you know, now the J-series munitions
37:35as well.
37:36The best description I've ever heard of this airplane is it's a dump truck.
37:39It can carry a lot of anything, anywhere.
37:42And over time, like you said, we've modified the airplane to, lately with the J-series munitions,
37:48that we're getting a precision-type strike with an airplane that was originally designed to be a high-altitude bomber.
38:01Though the mission has changed, the Strategic Air Command hasn't unplugged the red phones or flashing lights.
38:08When the bell rings in the exercise or in war, SAC's awesome deterrent force swings into action.
38:18First, the general in charge vacates his ground base for the safety and mobility of an aerial command post.
38:35At the same time, crews rush to their aircraft, which are always on standby.
38:42At the same time, crews rush to their aircraft, which are always on standby.
39:06Airborne, the general in the B-52s are in the best place to survive an attack and to deliver a
39:12response.
39:12Airborne, the major on standby Yangtzen's Eyebeam's efforts to take place.
39:20When seconds count, everything depends on the high-speed take-off.
39:50Flying low over the ground, each pilot awaits orders.
39:58This time the B-52s get called back, but next time could mean a flight into enemy territory.
40:12Another successful exercise.
40:16After more than 50 years, the B-52 still performs well.
40:251956 at Castle, 93rd Bomb Squad, as the first operational B-52.
40:34In 2006, we had our 50th year anniversary of B-52s flying operational.
40:40So Quiet Giant's been around for quite a long time.
40:42Not a whole lot of planes can say that nowadays.
40:45Roger that.
40:45Well, for Quiet Giants, man, these things and guys like you have done some good work, so I appreciate all
40:51you do and thanks for your time.
40:52You bet, Max. Thank you very much for having me.
41:09Almost as soon as the first B-52 rolls off the assembly line, the Strategic Air Command searches for a
41:15replacement.
41:19First, the ill-fated XB-70, an advanced design doomed by ground-to-air missile technology.
41:36Then comes the swing-wing B-1 bomber developed by Rockwell International.
41:43The B-1 delivers high speed and altitude with the wings swept back and more economical low-level flight with
41:49the wings forward.
42:01But the Carter administration can't justify the high cost and shelves the project in the 70s.
42:17In the 1980s, the revamped B-1B goes into production, not in the high-altitude role, but as a low
42:25-level high-speed bomber.
42:49The Strategic Air Command operates about 100 B-1Bs.
42:52If the costly plane can perform as well as its predecessor, the B-52, it'll be money well spent.
42:59After five decades of service through a period of unprecedented technological advances, the B-52 is still a weapon of
43:06awesome power and effectiveness.
43:09In fact, the Air Force has plans to keep the latest model of the B-52 in service until at
43:15least 2040.
43:16That's more than 80 years after the first bomber went into service.
43:20Now that's a tough act to follow.
43:23.
43:23.
43:30.
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