April 9, 2016: A pair of U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, taxi after landing at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. (Reuters/Air Force)
Military.com: Without New Nuclear Weapon, B-52 Bomber Mission Ends, General Warns
If the United States doesn't invest seriously in the Long Range Standoff Weapon, commonly known as LRSO, it can kiss the future of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber goodbye, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said Wednesday.
Gen. John Hyten said the LRSO is necessary for the B-52 long-range bomber because the B-21 Long Range Strategic Bomber -- the Pentagon's latest classified multi-billion dollar program -- can carry out only one nuclear mission at a time.
"We expect [the B-52] to be a nuclear-capable platform" lasting into the 2050s, Hyten told the audience during a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C.
The LRSO program would replace the AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile, known as ALCM, developed in the early 1980s.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The B-52 will still be used for this .... Today's B-52s Are Not The B-52s That Your Dad Flew (January 18, 2015). On a side note, I am surprised about this ....
.....B-21 Long Range Strategic Bomber -- the Pentagon's latest classified multi-billion dollar program -- can carry out only one nuclear mission at a time.
I guess they are cutting corners for this future bomber.
