B-52 bombers unleash stand-off precision strikes, showcasing U.S. air superiority and rendering Iranian air defenses obsolete. These updated giants are hitting key targets.
By Kris Osborn, Warrior
The presence of the large, somewhat timeless, yet non-stealthy “bomb truck” B-52 bomber provides what is perhaps the best evidence of U.S. air superiority available. While reports say the bomber is using long-range, stand-off precision weaponry beyond the range of Iranian air defenses, its mere presence suggests that Iran’s Russian-built S-300 or S-400 air defenses are essentially “gone.”
The B-52 is a large target for even poorly maintained air defenses as it is both large and completely without any stealth properties, therefore the bomber is associated with attacks in areas where the U.S. “has” established air superiority. Moving into the future, the B-52 will launch drones, fire lasers, operate as a flying command and control hub and function as a large “arsenal” plane able to deliver devastating strikes in areas where the U.S. has air superiority. Multiple reports say the B-52 is targeting command and control sites, ammunition depots and possible troop locations within Iran. The bomber can bring massive amounts of supportive firepower into areas where advanced, stealthy fighter jets and missiles have already destroyed air defense systems and created a safer air “corridor” through which 4th-generation fighters and large platforms such as the B-52 can operate.
Massive B-52 Weapons Capability
The aircraft can operate with advanced precision guidance systems and fire a wide envelope of weapons, to include the stand-off Air Launched Cruise Missile as well as numerous GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions. Today’s modern B-52 flies with a reconfigured internal weapons bay which greatly expands the volume of weapons it is able to carry as well as the “types” of weapons available to the aircraft. The 1760 Internal Weapons Bay Upgrade, or IWBU, will allow the B-52 to internally carry up to eight of the newest “J-Series” bombs in addition to carrying six on pylons under each wing. The B-52 have previously been able to carry JDAM weapons externally, but with the IWBU the aircraft will be able to internally house some of the most cutting edge precision-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, among others.
Additional weapons upgrades are impacting the tactical approach fundamental to the B-52, evolving what began as an “area-weapon” into a platform capable of much more advanced precision, long-range attacks. As an area-attack platform, the B-52 has historically been able to drop massive amounts of “unguided” are bombs to blanket an enemy area with attack and also enable ground-forces to maneuver into improved formations.
Upgraded B-52 technology
The B-52 can also operate like an intelligence node as well, meaning it can transmit and relay targeting information across platforms With a new digital communications system called Combat Network Communications Technology (CONECT), B-52 crews can receive mission and targeting updates while in-flight, enabling them to adjust to new combat information.
A lesser known yet critical aspect of combat aircraft modernization is that, with some maintenance and structural support, air frames themselves can remain viable for years beyond their anticipated service-life. This is definitely the case with the B-52, as today’s B-52 operates with an entirely new sphere of technologies and air combat capability compared with the Vietnam-era fighter.
The current B-52 technological composition and the concepts of operation with which it flies were likely heavily informed by what Air Force weapons developers learned from its combat experiences in Vietnam. For instance, large B-52s were shown to be quite vulnerable to North Vietnamese Air Defenses. During the War, 18 B-52s were lost in combat and 12 due to other circumstances, mostly over Vietnam. North Vietnamese forces effectively used SA-2 surface-to-air-missiles to destroy B-52s, something which makes sense given the altitudes the aircraft flew at and the kinds of bombs it attacked with.
Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.